


Lighting the Fuse

by hey_honey



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Armitage Hux, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ben Solo Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Arranged Marriage, Ben Solo Has Issues, Breaking Up & Making Up, Crossdressing in this is not a kink, Explicit Sexual Content, Family Drama, First Order Politics (Star Wars), Implied/Referenced Crossdressing, M/M, Mpreg, Naboo Culture and Customs (Star Wars), Omega Ben Solo, Political Alliances, Queen Ben Amidala, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:35:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22961065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hey_honey/pseuds/hey_honey
Summary: "What is going on?" Phasma asked when Hux returned from his meeting with Leia looking pale. He stared at her."The Queen's son agreed to marry a First Order official on one condition," he said."And?" Phasma encouraged."That official has to be me," he said.Alternatively, in which a political alliance is made between mere Lieutenant Hux and Ben Organa, soon to be queen of Naboo. Leia is about to get more grey hairs. And Snoke is an asshole.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 27
Kudos: 249





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a two-part piece, which is vastly different than the actual canon, based on a prompt I saw a few weeks ago.  
> Time also skips between 'present' and five years previously to deepen my relationship development! Just a warning.
> 
> Some background: Leia is the Queen of Naboo, and Ben is her son (he does not become a Sith, try to take over the world, etc...). My Naboo customs are similar to those seen in Episode 1: Naboo 'Omega' Royalty wear the painted face and dress as Amidala did. That means **Ben wears dresses and makeup, and my Omegas have female anatomy **.****
> 
> **  
> **If that bothers you, I wouldn't read this. Just a warning. If you say something inappropriate about my story, I will delete your comment.****  
> 

Hux strode down the hallway with steps that resonated loudly along the otherwise quiet space. His face was stern, lips drawn in a firm line, and he looked angry enough that most stepped out of his way.

“General Hux,” came a sharp voice from behind him, and Hux whipped around in the direction of Poe Damion’s voice.

“You can’t get him out of it this time,” he snapped, and Poe shook his head.

“Be patient with him,” he said, his voice unusually soft. “He’s still learning.”

“You make it sound like he’s a child!” Hux scoffed. “He knows better than to talk to First Order officials in such a way!”

“He’s scared,” Poe argued back, and the words struck Hux in the face. He blinked, breathing heavily, and Poe caught the emotion in his eyes. He sighed and stepped closer to his enemy-turned-friend. “Just…be gentle.” With a last touch to his shoulder, he walked past Hux and out of sight around the bend of the hallway. Hux sighed, gathering his anger and waiting another minute before continuing on his journey.

When the doors to their bedroom opened, he grunted at the suddenly overwhelming scent of distressed Omega that filled the large space, and he walked in to see the silk-clad figure lying horizontally across the bed, face hidden from his view.

“You look like a scene from one of those dramatic holofilms,” he said with a sigh, and the face tilted up to stare at him. The intricate paint, customary of Naboo Omega royalty, was smeared along high cheekbones, hair once meticulously styled now in disarray around his face. Dark eyes filled with impossible anger only minutes ago were now wet and tragic as they watched Hux cross the room slowly and climb onto the bed beside the lithe figure, gathering the Omega into his arms.

“I expected you to come in here screaming,” Ben Organa murmured, and Hux laughed as he pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, never fond of the taste or feel of dried paint against his skin. He released calming pheromones, and the Omega slowly relaxed in his arms. “You looked so angry when I walked out.”

“Well, you did manage to insult, accuse of treason, and break an agreement with a First Order loyalist that I spent nearly six months working diligently to bring here,” Hux said, swallowing back the anger that bubbled up as he remembered the sleepless nights and soul-selling he’d done.

“I’m not sorry,” Ben said firmly, new tears washing more paint away, and Hux shushed him gently, wiping the tear tracks away with gentle hands. Ben was so loud, so angry and confident and independent that Hux forgot his subgender more often than not. He moved the Omega’s face into his neck gently, sending more calming pheromones his way. “He just kept sneering and talking about the First Order taking over _our people_ , Hux! He smirked so smugly about it, and I couldn’t sit there and watch him belittle you, belittle our rule, that way. I couldn’t,” he sobbed, and Hux sighed, shushing him gently. There was no way white paint wasn’t all over his uniform jacket now; he scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly.

“It’s hard to sit by and watch this happen,” he acknowledged his mate’s feelings. He felt his tears slow a little, sobs now the occasional hiccup. “But we are one small planet in a galaxy run by the First Order…we need to, well, humble ourselves. And we’ll start by formally apologizing to the man as soon as your maidens get you cleaned up,” he said, and the tears started all over again, the Omega clinging to him.

“Don’t make me, please, don’t make me, Alpha,” Ben pleaded, and Hux pulled back with eyebrows bunched in confusion. This wasn't his Ben.

“Ben, what’s going on with you?” he asked sharply, taking in his husband’s face, cheeks flushed under the white makeup, hands shaking as he gripped Hux’s uniform. “This isn’t like you.”

“I don’t know,” Ben gasped, sitting upright on the bed and pulling the cord for his maidens. “I…don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Five years previously

“I can understand why you are upset by the order,” Phasma said as they prepared to land in Naboo, and Lieutenant Hux scoffed at the words.

“I have heard of the Naboo Royal Family, and I am not looking forward to these transactions,” he said. “Queen Leia Organa is not keen on the First Order’s plans, and her husband—”

“The smuggler?” Phasma interjected with a grimace, and Hux scoffed again, hitting controls as he began to take the craft down to ground.

“The smuggler and traitor that he is, is rude and abrasive.”

“You’ve met?” asked Phasma, and Hux hummed.

“Yes, his ugly spaceship was flagged by the First Order a few times. He’s a shady character, and I have little taste for people without good manners,” Hux said, and Phasma sighed as she helped cut the engine and prepare to leave their ship.

“I’ve heard of their son,” murmured Phasma as they prepared to walk down the railing to the party of Naboo officials waiting for them. A line of First Order lower-officials and Stormtrooper guards appeared behind them. She paused to strap a weapon to her thigh and her helmet. “Whispers of his powers.”

“I haven’t heard,” mused Hux curiously. “Well, let’s hurry these things up so we can leave promptly.”

“After you, General,” Phasma’s electronic voice spoke as she put the mask on.

Through dinner, Hux stared at Queen Organa, not liking the calculated expression on the woman’s face as she talked with Hux and the First Order representatives he had brought with him. Phasma stayed stationary throughout the entirety of the meal, standing behind Hux’s chair as if ready to shoot the first person who looked his way wrong. The meal was quiet and calm however, without interruption, although Hux felt that the young man sitting next to Queen Organa interested him far more than the polite, dull small talk anyone else said.

Ben Organa was indeed just as beautiful as Hux had heard, his dark hair pulled back from his face, which was painted in typical Naboo royalty style. His dark eyes were wide and expressive, taking in everyone at the table, and his lips looked large and seemed to pout despite the makeup drawing further attention to them. He held himself stiffly, silently, watching his mother correspond with the guests while he did little more than watch. Hux felt his gaze on him several times throughout the meal, but the Queen’s son did little more than stare back at him emotionlessly.

“Lieutenant Hux, why don’t we go for a walk,” Queen Organa said as she stood after dinner, and Hux had no choice but to listen. As he passed the Queen’s son, he was intrigued to learn that not only was Ben nearly the same height as him, but he was also an Omega from the sweet smell of wildflowers resonating from him.

In the courtyard, Queen Organa turned to him with a heavy sigh.

“If you think we will be blind to your true intents, you are about to be sorely mistaken,” she said, decorum falling away with no one else around. Hux sighed and relaxed, glancing up at the three moons beaming down at him. “You want Naboo, and we won’t give it to you.”

“I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation,” Hux said with a shake of his head. “The First Order wants Naboo, yes. You have a conveniently placed planet with direct political sway, which the First Order believes would be beneficial in these…troubled times.”

“You’ll have to take this planet from my dead hands,” Leia said with a fierce glint in her eyes, and Hux swallowed his temper back with a strained smile.

“No need to get so upset, my Queen,” he said. He knew Phasma was off somewhere, lurking in the shadows, ready to help him should he need it, but he rather wanted this to be a peaceful transition—those were his original orders after all. “I’m here to strike a deal.”

“And what does the First Order offer in exchange for our freedom?” Queen Organa asked with a sneer, and Hux chuckled.

"We don’t want your freedom,” he said. “We want a place for some barracks, a place for our soldiers here on this planet.”

“You want to make camp,” she repeated, and Hux nodded. “Why?”

“That is not your business,” Hux said simply. “The First Order would expect to place a well-respected official in your political party of course.”

“Of course,” came the dry response, and Hux almost smiled.

“But that would be all we expect from you and your…distinguished planet,” he said, resisting the urge to frown, and the Queen stared at him in the darkness.

“And how would I know you would keep your word?” she asked. “How do I ensure you won’t implant soldiers here to gain our trust and then slit our throats in the night?”

“I don’t suppose there’s any way for me to assure you,” Hux said. “You do not know me, and as such, I cannot give you my word.”

“Then we have a problem,” Queen Organa said firmly, and Hux tried to hide his irritation; it must not have worked. “But you are welcome to stay here until you can think of a way to convince me,” she added, and Hux sighed audibly now.

“If that is what it takes to convince you of our honor in maintaining the agreement,” Hux finally said. “Then we shall stay.”

Present

“Something is wrong,” Hux insisted, and Ben moaned when the Alpha’s cool hands touched his face. Hurriedly, Hux began to wipe the makeup off his face with his sleeve, undoing his hairstyle with the other.

“Something isn’t right,” Ben mumbled, and three of his handmaidens walked into the room with soft flows of their dress.

“The queen is ill,” Hux said, barely looking at them. “I need cold water and towels, someone get a medical droid.”

“Hux,” whispered Ben, and Hux accepted the towels with hands that trembled, trying to get Ben into the bed as best he could.

“I’m right here,” Hux said in a low voice, hoping the cool would bring down the flushed heat that settled over Ben’s skin. Ben tried to speak, but his eyes rolled back in his head, and he began to seize.

The next hour was a blur that Hux would never truly remember. At some point, Poe was beside him, seemingly pulling him away from the droids trying to work on him. He couldn’t unsee the vision of Ben seizing in his arms, and Poe mentioned later that the Alpha cried his mate’s name in a way that hurt Poe’s very core.

Ben came to well after the sun disappeared beneath the horizon, and he felt sweaty and cold simultaneously as he shivered under the bedding. He was sore everywhere, like he did after a super intensive training session, but he couldn’t remember doing that. He could barely move a finger, so tired was he, but he must have made noise because Hux appeared in front of him in an instant, face lined with worry. Ben blinked up at him sleepily, bringing a hand up with all his strength to stroke Hux’s face.

“You look tired,” he mumbled at his mate’s expression, and Hux stared at him.

“Ben, you almost died,” Hux said tiredly, and Ben hummed as he felt the Alpha lean in to scent him. “Someone tried to poison you,” he explained, and Ben curled closer to his mate.

“Come hold me,” he whispered in the silence of their room. He could smell Phasma’s Beta scent in the back of his mind, knew through the disturbance in the Force that she was on the large balcony of their chambers on patrol, but Hux didn’t even hesitate to crawl onto the bed, gathering his mate into his arms and pressing his lips desperately to Ben’s forehead.

“I’m going to find who did this,” he said. “They will pay dearly.”

“I know you’ll find them,” Ben slurred the words as he mouthed at Hux’s exposed neck, so rarely freed from its collar and open to his touch. “Just let me sleep and hold me.”

Five years previously

Hux was going to go insane. Queen Leia was no closer to agreeing to any terms Hux proposed, and they had been on this god-awful planet for over a month.

“How hard is it to just say what you want so I can leave this place?” he fumed as he walked into his room, Phasma silently following him.

“True, she seems to be playing a game with you, and I’m tired of this Naboo heat,” Phasma said with a sigh as she pulled her helmet off to let her skin breathe. “At least you get one good thing from this outing.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” mused Hux, ripping off his leather gloves to run anxious fingers through his already mussed hair.

“Well, you get to stare at the queen’s son all day,” Phasma drawled boredly, and when Hux whipped around to protest, he paused when he saw her smirk and knowing eyes. The words died in his throat as he huffed loudly instead. “Like I don’t see the way your eyes follow that Omega when he walks down the hallway.”

“He’s easy to look at,” Hux admitted with a shrug, pretending to look over correspondence data with the First Order base about the lack of progress he was making. “And he is tall, for an Omega.”

“That dark hair, the slender body, that _mouth_ ,” teased Phasma, and an Alpha growl made her pause. She smirked again when Hux cleared his throat awkwardly at his unintentional sound, cheeks reddening a little. “Yes, he is…‘easy to look at’ as you say.”

Hux began to truly focus on his messages as he typed up the latest ridiculous list of demands Queen Leia had thought of when Phasma spoke again, knowing just how to slyly help her friend.

“He’s also a fiercely intelligent young man,” she said, and Hux’s fingers paused.

“You spoke with him?” Hux asked, and Phasma nodded.

“He wanted to know if Stormtroopers were just droids or if actual people existed underneath the helmets,” she said as she sank into the couch opposite Hux. She had a soft smile on her face at the memory. “You know, he is so tall and strong-looking that his soft-spoken words and gentle mind really are startling,” she commented. “He has been groomed to take over his mother’s role as queen, clearly, and I personally think he will do an excellent job, should he find a proper Alpha to help him assume that authority without question.”

Hux froze, staring at Phasma. Together, they stared at each other as her words hung tensely in the air.

“Tell me everything you know about Naboo Omega royalty,” Hux said, leaning forward eagerly, and Phasma laughed.

“I’ve finally thought of an agreement you might consider longer than my previous suggestions,” Hux said in greeting Queen Organa the following week. Leia raised an eyebrow at the informality of his greeting, but Hux was excited, so she let it slide.

“Walk with me,” she said, her customary response to his many attempts to make a formal agreement. Together, they went on their familiar walk along the garden path; Naboo summer was nearly done, and winter approached, making the air more humid than before, though not unpleasant. “What are your thoughts?” she asked, and Hux turned to face her.

“The First Order formally requests that an official be placed in your political party and household in order to help with future negotiations.”

“We’ve gone over this,” Leia began, and Hux continued boldly.

“Your son will take your place as queen when your term is complete, will he not?” he asked, and Leia paused. They never talked about Ben—he was a silent seat at the table, a story and whispered rumor never discussed in polite company. “That is how Naboo government works, does it not?”

“Yes, our government is run through bloodline, like how I took over the role after my mother’s passing,” Leia nodded hesitantly. “What does this have to do with anything.”

“But your son is an Omega, and as the late Queen Amidala displayed, an Omega running Naboo is not considered appropriate unless they are married to an Alpha,” Hux said. He watched the beginnings of suspicion ripple across Leia’s face, and he hurried to drive his point home. “If we could assure you that our official would be Alpha, we could have a union between your son and our official.”

“And the First Order could stomp down my son’s power and rule Naboo,” Leia said in a flat voice. Hux arched an eyebrow, not swayed by the argument.

“And do you think your son would let that happen?” he fought back. A silence settled over them.

“So you want to home your troops here as a station in the dessert, and one of your officials will marry my son,” Leia considered the terms, and Hux nodded.

“We would then have our minds made that Naboo would be our ally in the event of war, and Naboo would listen unquestioningly to an Omega ruler when your term ends,” he said.

“I’ll consider it,” Leia said hesitantly. “I still do not agree with the First Order’s attempt to monopolize the galaxy. This would not be a friendship.”

“Friendships are not what we ask for,” Hux said. “We need a formal agreement, that is all.”

“I won’t force my son to marry an old hag of an official,” Leia argued. “I was not limited to an arranged marriage like my mother, and I will not stoop that low for my son. If he does not agree, then I will not sign an agreement.”

“We can create a list of eligible Alpha officials for him to consider. He may pick whomever he wishes,” Hux responded smoothly, and Leia hummed.

“My son is…young,” Leia murmured. “He is but a child still.”

Hux’s confusion must have shown because Leia laughed.

“He is only eighteen,” she corrected. “He knows so little of the world, and his immaturity shows in his quick temper and his rashness. He will be a terrible mate for many years until maturity calms him.”

“Whoever he wishes,” Hux repeated, and Leia nodded slowly, beginning to consider the usefulness of such an arrangement.

“I will talk to him,” she said. And Hux felt relieved for the first time since arriving in Naboo.

Present

“We’ve traced the source of the poison found in His Majesty’s bloodstream,” Rey, Ben’s primary handmaiden and warrior, explained the following day as Hux sat on the edge of the bathtub watching Ben shiver in the steaming pool of water. She stood in the doorway dressed in golden robes, her dark eyes taking in the way Hux ran long fingers through Ben’s damp hair and along his cheekbones as his mate slipped in and out of consciousness as he had been doing since awakening from his seizures the previous morning.

“How did they deliver it?” Hux asked, still facing away, and Rey swallowed.

“It was a topical agent, so I personally took samples of everything His Majesty touched that day,” she said quietly. “We found large quantities of the poison lacing the gown he wore.”

“Someone knew he was going to wear that piece yesterday for the meeting with First Order officials,” Hux said, finally turning to face Rey, and his expression made Rey swallow. “It was one of his handmaidens.”

“I believe so, General,” Rey said. “I will begin formal interrogations of all handmaidens and guards this very evening.” Hux scrubbed his face tiredly, and suddenly he looked his age again, young and frustrated and filled with too much worry than he should have.

“What did we say about formalities in private settings, Rey,” he said, still scrubbing his face, and a calm hand touched his shoulder, forcing him to look up into Rey’s concerned eyes.

“Have you not slept?” she asked, and Hux swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked back down at his mate.

“I see his face when I close my eyes,” he said. “The pain and then the nothingness that passed across it. His voice saying my name, begging for help. I see him dying in my arms while I do nothing, and I cannot imagine a worse fate, Rey.”

“He will recover from this,” Rey insisted, hating to see the Queen’s Consort so shaken, and Hux shook his head.

“When I first met him, I could not imagine living this life,” he said. “Now, I sit here and wonder how I ever lived without him filling such a heavy presence here.”

Five years previously

“You speak in jest, surely,” Ben said bluntly when Leia visited his bedroom that night, and Leia sighed as she watched her son stalk across his quarters to the balcony, taking in the five moons’ glow as he considered her story.

"Lieutenant Hux believes this works out to both our advantage, and I personally agree with him,” she said calmly, wishing Han would return from his trip already so they could tackle this challenge together. “You could pick anyone you wanted!”

“But it would still be an arranged marriage to First Order scum that I will disagree with my entire life!” Ben argued, turning back to his mother. Standing there on the balcony, robed in soft pink silks, his dark hair framing his youthful face, he looked like Padmé, and Leia suddenly missed her mother fiercely. She swallowed her temper and kept her voice quiet for her Omega son.

“It would be an arranged marriage,” she said. “And I will give you the choice ultimately. But I urge you to consider this option, Ben. You are only eighteen, but my time as queen will come to an end sooner than you think. And an Alpha as consort will provide for you the ability to rule without others stomping on your power.”

There was a long silence before Ben stepped inside the balcony and the doors shut on their own. Leia bit her tongue to prevent scolding for the unnecessary use of the Force and chose to silently watch her son consider her words as he made his way to the couch, leaning down to rest his head in her lap. She stroked his hair as she waited for him to speak.

“You’ve spoken of Lieutenant Hux several times now,” Ben said softly, and Leia hummed, enjoying the stillness of their time together. They’d been close since Ben was born, and these moments in the evening after an otherwise hectic day filled her with peace.

“Yes, he is the primary First Order negotiator, so most of my correspondence is with him,” she explained.

“You like him,” Ben said bluntly, and Leia huffed.

“I told you not to read my mind,” she said, and Ben chewed his lip, not even listening to the scolding as he thought intensely again.

“You compare him to yourself…why?”

“He has an intense desire to succeed, to win _every_ battle no matter the odds,” she mused aloud, considering the redhead who amused her with his scowls and huffs during political meetings and boring dinners that dragged on for hours. “He wants to prove himself as an Alpha and a leader in a society where others use power and money for government positions. He’s still learning, young even by a politician’s perspective, but still…I will rather miss his feisty presence in our household,” she said with a shrug, looking back down to see Ben watching her closely with dark eyes fighting sleep.

“He is young, you said,” he probed for more information, and Leia nodded. “How young?”

“Well, younger than me,” Leia revised with a smirk. “He sees the end of his twenties soon, I would imagine.”

“That is old,” Ben said factually, and Leia laughed. She patted his head and slid off the couch when she caught sight of the time.

“You offend your old mother,” she said with a wink. “Consider the proposition, dear, and I’ll have a list of eligible First Order officials sent for you in the morning.”

“No need,” Ben said, sitting up on the couch, and Leia sighed. He was so rash in his decisions.

“Please consider what’s best for Naboo as well, dear,” she said, and Ben shook his head.

“I’ll agree to the marriage on one condition,” he said, and Leia froze, shocked at her son’s willingness to obey. “I want to marry Lieutenant Hux,” he said, and Leia had to sit down again.

“What is going on?” Phasma asked when Hux returned from his meeting with Leia looking white.

“I need to contact the First Order base and discuss the terms of our new agreement,” Hux stammered out, and Phasma sighed as she shook her head.

“Why do you look like you’ve seen a dead man walking?” she asked, and Hux stared at her.

"The Queen’s son agreed to marrying a First Order official on one condition,” he said.

"And?” Phasma encouraged after too long a pause.

“That official had to be me,” he said. And Phasma exploded.

Present

“Must you go?” whined Ben the next morning as Hux shrugged on the undershirt of his First Order uniform, the Alpha seated on the edge of their bed facing the open window.

"Yes, I must,” Hux said with a soft huff. “There are important changes being made to our Starbase off Tatooine, and I need to be there in person to answer questions and conduct dry-runs of certain protocols.”

“But you’ll be gone for so long,” Ben whined breathlessly, sliding across the rumpled sheets to wrap his arms around Hux’s chest, long fingers splayed across his mate’s pale skin and defined muscles. “What will I do without you?”

“It’ll be a week, two max,” Hux murmured quietly, turning his face to look at Ben clinging to him. He looked beautiful in nothing but a red silk robe, his dark hair wild and luscious around his face. “We’ve spent longer apart.”

“Yes, and it was terrible,” Ben demanded dramatically, loudly in the otherwise silent room, and Hux could hear Phasma’s chuckle from her position outside their door. He sighed and turned to face Ben, running fingers through his dark hair.

“Your father is on Naboo and has promised to keep you company while I’m away,” Hux said. “You won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“I always notice when you’re not around,” Ben murmured, laying back against a pillow and pressing his limbs against Hux’s frame for more contact. He sighed, hand over his face for a minute, and he swallowed heavily. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me…maybe it’s from the whole poisoning situation, but I’m just…afraid, Hux.”

“You have Rey and an army of guards who _love_ you to protect you for me while I’m away,” Hux said, running a hand along the broad expanse of Ben’s smoothly shaven thigh. “You needn’t be afraid.”

“You’re going no matter what I say, aren’t you,” Ben pouted, and Hux laughed as he leaned down to kiss his pouting lips gently.

“Yes, my love,” he murmured, standing to finish dressing. As he walked to his dresser, Ben spoke again, loudly and lazily to the room at large.

“My, two whole weeks with no one to satisfy me…I might have to find someone to amuse myself with while you’re away,” he said, staring at the material covering their bed as he waited. He could see Hux freeze in his peripheral, loudly hear Phasma’s sigh as she realized what she was about to hear through the door, and he smirked cheekily before squealing happily when Hux’s body landed on top of him and warm lips collided with his parted ones.

“You _minx_ ,” growled Hux as he hurriedly opened the edges of his robe, spreading thighs to expose Ben’s smooth, slick skin. “If I had more time before my departure, I would _fuck_ you so hard into this mattress that you’d still feel my knot when I come home.”

“Yes, yes, knot me,” Ben begged frantically, gasping as Hux’s mouth kissed and licked and bit along his face and down his neck.

“I don’t have time,” Hux said, practically jerking Ben’s thighs apart further so he could lay between them and gain access to Ben’s most private area. “This will have to do,” he murmured, spreading soft pink labial folds to wrap lips around his slick skin and _suck_.

Ben arched his back and sobbed at the sensation, slick pouring out of him as he gripped Hux’s hair desperately. Hux had such a way with his mouth of making Ben simply fall apart; it was addictive to have the Alpha between his legs. Ben would never grow tired of it, the way his tongue caressed and flicked and soothed his throbbing clit, his fingers burning bruises in his thighs as he kept desperately thrusting hips pinned to the bedding; the way that tongue wiggled inside him to suck the slick right out, stroking against silky walls.

“H-Hux, Hux, _please_ ,” Ben begged, for what, he couldn’t be sure, but Hux hummed at the sound of his name and returned to his clit, sucking and biting down. “Fuck,” Ben sobbed, back arching against as he shuddered from the sensation. “I want to cum,” he begged, tears slipping down his face at the overwhelming pleasure from sensory overwhelm, and his Alpha responded by slipping two fingers inside him, curling them into his g-spot, and began to pump them against the spot mercilessly, his tongue never moving from its dance against his rapidly swelling clitoris. “Alpha, _Alpha_ , I’m gonna cum,” he whimpered, white knuckles clutching the bedding as he tried to stave off his orgasm, and Hux pulled back from his clit, moving to kiss the skin of his inner thigh as his fingers pumped. The squelch of his fingers in Ben’s slick were intimate and heated Ben’s cheeks no matter how many times Hux fucked him, and he met Hux’s dark gaze as he felt an orgasm bubble beneath Hux’s relentless fingers.

“Cum,” whispered Hux against the soft skin of his inner knee, and Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head as he came with a sob, climaxing violently around Hux’s fingers. Hux fucked his fingers through the orgasm until Ben felt overstimulated and only then did he pull back and suck his fingers clean as he admired the throbbing clit and Ben’s chest rising and falling rapidly. He leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to Ben’s panting lips, staying close as he smirked.

“Now, who else would want to touch what's mine,” he whispered against Ben’s mouth, and Ben felt his body flush at the words. Trying to catch his breath, he put soft hands in Hux’s hair and gently directed him back down. Hux, understanding his intent, licked the slick clean from Ben’s overly sensitive skin tenderly, catching the slick that coated his inner thighs and down to his tight rim as well. Only when he was satisfied and Ben was shaking again did Hux sit up, kiss Ben once more, and stand.

“I really need to finish getting dressed,” Hux murmured, and Ben let him leave their bed without complaint this time, watching with dark eyes as Hux finished putting on his uniform, gelled his hair in place, brushed his teeth, and gathered his things. Only when Hux had moved to open the door to greet Phasma did Ben stand and cross the room to slip into Hux’s arms on bare feet, gown billowing open still, unashamed in his nakedness in front of Phasma, who rolled her eyes beneath her mask.

“I love you,” Ben murmured, kissing Hux gently, and Hux returned it, nonchalantly tying his robe shut as he let his Omega scent him lovingly. “I will think of you with each breath I take.”

“And I you,” Hux returned, nipping their bite before he turned and disappeared with a military stride down the hallway with Phasma behind him. When they were out of sight, Ben shut the door gently and reached down to cup the bump only just beginning to show when he looked for it.

“And when Daddy returns, he’ll have a surprise waiting,” Ben murmured, feeling the Force just beginning to hum beneath his fingertips.

Five years previously

“When Her Majesty the Queen explained that you would honor the agreement only if I were the chosen First Order official, I somehow expected you to be more…eager to talk to me,” Hux remarked calmly when they had sat some half-hour in silence. The young man sitting across from him said nothing, fixing an expressionless, pristinely painted face on Hux carefully, much as he had done since Hux first entered the room for their designated first meeting. Phasma adjusted her position at the door and cleared her throat. The handmaidens sitting on either side of the Prince did little more than blink at the words.

Hux suppressed his sigh and took another careful sip of his tea. This was stupid and a waste of his time. If not for his respect for Leia, he would have abandoned the insolent little prince sitting and left a good fifteen minutes ago as a way of teaching him some manners…but Leia wanted so much for this arrangement to work, and Hux. Well, Hux needed this arrangement to work too. God only knows what would happen to him if he failed his assignment.

One of the handmaidens gently refilled his cup, and he gave her a small, but polite smile of thanks. She was pretty, dark eyes solemn and knowing, in her golden robes which reminded Hux of his home planet’s sunsets. He had come to discover that it was the robes worn only by the Omega Royalty’s most trustiest handmaidens, those who were trained as warriors and fierce weaponsmiths as well. He marveled at the bravery such young women must possess—they were more than pretty faces in fancy dresses, and once again, he found himself admiring the Naboo culture in a way he never did another planet besides his home.

She handed Ben a cup, and a long hand reached out to take it, fingers longer than Hux’s—Ben was a tall figure in the room, and with his attire and royal airs, his presence seemed even larger. Hux found it interesting that Ben was similar in size and form to him, though a little broader in the shoulders and a little lither in limb and waist. A lesser Alpha might be put off by the Omega’s very un-Omega like qualities, but Hux found him astonishingly beautiful. He sipped his tea, blue eyes wandering to the suns pouring in the open windows as he tried to avoid the uncomfortable silence of the room. In fact, from the callouses on his hands, Hux wondered if behind closed doors, the Prince might just wield a sword and practice target shooting from time to time. He seemed the type, and Hux prayed he wasn’t as dreadfully boring as this conversation was beginning to make him out to be.

A beep sounded from Phasma’s armor, and her helmet tilted down as she received the message in the solitude of her helmet. Hux turned back to Ben to see those dark eyes ever watching him again, and he sighed, draining his second cup of tea.

“Lieutenant,” Phasma’s helmet voice interrupted the heavy silence in the room, and Hux straightened. “You have a meeting with the commanders at base when you are ready.”

“Of course, I…” Hux paused, setting the cup and saucer down gently. Ben did not move, didn’t so much as blink, as Hux looked at him, waiting for some kind of a sign, _something_. But there was nothing, and so Hux stood and bowed respectfully. “Good day, your Highness,” he said, before he strode from the room, Phasma following.

“You are absolutely right,” Rey gushed the instant the doors shut as Rose, a handmaiden, helped Ben with his headpiece. “He is _beautiful_.”

He is rather, isn’t he,” murmured Ben with a small quirk of his lips, settling against the settee in his black ruffled gown and accepting the soft towel to wipe clean the makeup from his face. “And when he gets frustrated…”

“Even his thoughts are rather yummy,” Rey murmured, crouching to help her closest friend and companion wipe the white from his hairline, pulling pins free to release the hair from its design. She knew Ben had been reading his thoughts, just as she had, with their shared gift of the Force. Ben’s eyes twinkled as he leaned back against the settee and stared at the ceiling with a dreamy smile, looking a vision as his hair slipped down to frame his face perfectly.

“He thought I was beautiful,” he murmured, and Rey laughed, beginning to unlace his dress. He stood dutifully and together, Rey and Rose pulled the dress down, leaving him in his underthings. He drifted into his closet and appeared a few minutes later in pants and a loose tunic, looking less a royal and more like a regular Omega of the court. “And he will not think me strange for learning to fight!”

“Just how long have you been reading his thoughts?” asked Rey suspiciously, kneeling to help him secure boots to his legs, and Ben laughed childishly.

“Since he first arrived,” he confessed. “But his attitude of Naboo is changing, and I think he will grow to be interested in me!”

“I think that process would be quicker if you opened your mouth and introduced yourself,” murmured Rey, and Ben shrugged.

“Come on, we’ll go practice,” he said, tossing her a saber and disappearing out of the door. Rey sighed and shook her head, but she followed him out to the court where they could practice without anyone disturbing them.

Hux didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the sounds of the lightsabers hitting each other was an unfamiliar sound to him, so he followed it to the courtyard where he watched as the two figures fought. They teased each other often, laughing and provoking each other as old friends might, and Hux found it enjoyable. The girl, Rey as her companion called her, was one of the Prince’s handmaidens, the one who served him tea earlier. She moved now with poise and deadly precision, her blue light erupting against the green of her opponent’s.

The opponent was beautiful, and Hux knew in an instant that it was Ben. Dressed like a court Omega, hair and face free of finery, Hux could still recognize those lips set in a constant pout, the long limbs, the fingers that moved confidently but elegantly. That explained the callouses.

Rey noticed him in that moment, and Hux cleared his thoughts carefully as he should have done earlier (hearing rumors from Phasma just an hour previously that some in Naboo possessed the ability to read minds) and smiled politely.

“My apologies for intruding,” he said, stepping awkwardly in the courtyard as the two fighters faced him. “Your weapon of choice is one I am not familiar with, and I so enjoyed the display.”

“Lieutenant Hux, no apology is necessary,” Rey said. She turned to Ben and followed their initial plan should anyone notice them practicing. “This is Kylo Ren, one of His Highness’s the Prince’s handmaids. Ren, this is Lieutenant Hux.”

“A pleasure,” Ben responded, and Hux marveled at the depth of his voice, the soft airy quality that was so unmistakably Omega. He smiled and reached out his hand to shake, which Ben hesitantly accepted.

“Kylo Ren,” Hux formed the name, clearly one they had carefully chosen well before. “A family name?”

“A chosen one,” Ben responded cryptically, and Hux smirked a little, finally releasing the hand. He hummed and gestured at the saber.

“May I?” he asked, and Ben handed it over gently without a single glance to Rey, who stiffened. Hux turned the blade away as it expanded with a buzz of energy, making a few careful arcs through the air before capping it and returning it to Ben’s outstretched hand. “It is a mighty instrument, and I admire the way you both handle its power.”

“Thank you,” murmured Ben. “I am sure the Prince performed admirably in choosing a suitor such as yourself to marry,” he said, the words slipping out without him even aware of them. Hux stared at him, blue eyes looking into his very soul, and he hummed.

“I am not yet sure of the Prince’s intentions in this arrangement,” he said hesitantly, turning to walk a little away. “But if he is better with his politics than he is with his disguises, I believe his rule will be a successful one.” He nodded and left before Rey or Ben could protest. Ben cursed when he was out of sight and turned to Rey.

"How did he know?” he asked, and Rey shrugged with a laugh.

“I don’t know, because you’re _you_?” she suggested. “Even without all the fancy stuff, you still look like you, Ben.” She shrugged and resumed her former fighting position. “Forget about Hux. One more round before dinner, I think.”

Present

“How are you feeling?” asked Rey that evening when she entered the Queen’s chambers to see Ben lying across rumpled sheets in little else but a silk robe and slippers, a hand on his belly as he stared morosely out the balcony window.

“His smell is fading from the room already,” Ben said quietly, voice just audible, and Rey sighed heavily as she crawled onto the bed beside her queen, nuzzling against the Omega’s cheek to scent him comfortingly.

“Do you wish for an Alpha’s companion?” she asked quietly, hesitantly. “Hux would understand your need.”

“No,” Ben said, face and stomach recoiling at the idea of smelling another Alpha in his nest— _their_ nest. “I don’t want an Alpha; I want _my_ Alpha, and he’s halfway to First Order headquarters by now.”

“I know things have been stressful lately,” murmured Rey, and Ben snorted.

“Stressful? Rey, I almost died, discovered I was pregnant, decided it was wise to hide it from my mate, who is now off doing random things at a base that I don’t care about, and all I can think about is his knot,” he ended with a sob, burying his face in the pillows. Rey sniffed, smelled oncoming heat, and hummed in understanding, rubbing her hand up and down Ben’s thin back. “I miss him,” he said tearfully into the pillows, and Rey sighed.

“Ben, I need to talk to you about something very important,” she murmured, and Ben looked up at last.

“What,” he murmured, and Rey swallowed heavily.

“Per Hux’s orders, I conducted interviews of all the handmaidens and the servants who came in contact with your dress that day.”

“What did you find?” asked Ben, and Rey chewed her lip.

“A servant who cleans the fireplaces admitted as soon as I opened my mouth to ask the first question,” she said. She felt Ben stiffen under her touch, and she sat upright, her voice becoming more serious as the gravity of the situation settled over them. “She said a lord approached her and paid her to lace the dress lying out to be worn when she came in to do the fireplaces the morning of the meeting. She described him and everything.”

“And who was it?” asked Ben, and Rey released a sigh.

“Lord Snoke,” she said, and Ben blinked, jaw dropped at the information.

Lord Snoke was one of his mother’s most trusted allies during her reign, a Naboo resident and member of the Royal Party since Ben was _born_. He had been there for Ben’s christening, watched him grow and mentored him through his political lessons, ate at their family table, teased Han for his silly stories and adventures…he had been a guest of honour at their wedding.

“I don’t understand,” whispered Ben, and Rey stroked his face gently as a mother would their child.

“We’ll discuss this with Hux,” Rey insisted. “We’ll work this out, Ben, so nothing like this happens to you again.”

“I don’t understand,” Ben repeated in a mantra, sobbing into Rey’s shoulder, and Rey shushed him, stroking his hair until he slipped into unconsciousness and slept, dreaming of his mate and their child running across a beach in bright sunlight…without him.

Five years previously

“I suppose you want to talk now?” asked Hux when he walked into his darkened room after dinner to see a figure waiting for him, lying across his settee. He heard Phasma pause at the door, and he cleared his throat as he loosened his tie and began to unbutton his jacket.

“Sir?” came her voice through the door, and the figure on the settee froze.

“All good, Phasma,” Hux said. He paused. “You’re relieved from duty for the night…go drink something fun.”

Phasma laughed, not needing to be told twice, and relieved her station with a sigh of contentment. Hux approached the settee and sat opposite the beautiful figure, enjoying the red silk folds of his dress, the intricacy of his makeup and hairstyle.

“You knew who I was earlier, but you didn’t mention anything to my mother,” Ben said, and Hux watched the painted lips move with fascination. He shrugged when he realized Ben expected an answer.

“I would recognize you anywhere,” Hux said simply. “And I felt no need to share your secret fun with the dinner guests. I’m not some spy sent to report your every move to your mother or the First Order.” He paused. “Besides, I enjoyed watching you fight. You move with a grace few soldiers possess.”

“How did you know?” Ben asked, leaning forward, and Hux leaned backwards in his seat, reaching over to pour himself a tumbler of something strong.

“Pardon my frankness, but your scent is distinctive to me,” Hux said.

“My scent?” repeated Ben, baffled, and Hux nodded.

“Wildflowers and honey,” he said. “Intensely sweet but somehow reminding me of my home planet in some way. I…like it.”

“You smell of gunpowder,” Ben said, moving forward more until he barely seemed to be sitting on the settee anymore. “And the cold bite of steel and incense.”

“That sounds fiercely unpleasant,” Hux muttered, downing his drink, and Ben shook his head quickly, a small smile playing at his lips.

“It comforts me,” he said before realizing the intimacy of his own words. “That is—”

“I know what you mean,” Hux said simply, and Ben nodded.

“You read minds,” Hux decided in that moment, and Ben blinked. “I have heard the rumors, but only now do I see that it is _you_ who possesses that gift.”

"Me and a few others,” Ben admitted, and Hux hummed, watching him with eyes that held emotions too intense for Ben to put a name to.

“And what did you see when you read my thoughts?” Hux asked, setting his tumbler aside, and Ben gathered his courage.

“That you are beginning to enjoy our planet,” he said. “That you honor and trust my mother…” he paused and inhaled to brace himself. “That you find me attractive.”

“Yes, I do think all those things,” Hux said with a nod, surprising Ben with his honesty. “Naboo is interesting me more than I initially thought, and the Queen is a woman worthy of all praise. And yes, Ben, you are fiercely, _intensely_ attractive. You confuse me and bewitch me and amuse me all in the same breath.”

Somehow, Ben stood, crossed the small space between them, and sank into Hux’s lap without quite realizing he had, but as Hux traced the smooth curve of his jaw, Ben leaned down and pressed his mouth to the Alpha’s without a second thought.

He tasted almost as sweet as he smelled, and his lips moved gently, almost unsure, against Hux with a delicacy and hesitancy that suggested he had never kissed anyone before. Hux found that he would much prefer tasting the soft lips without the dry barrier of white and red paint, but as he urged Ben’s tongue out to play, the texture of paint disappeared from his mind, and he was left with only _Ben_. The Omega hitched his breath when Hux stroked the roof of his mouth just so, and his hands caught themselves in Hux’s once pristine hair, and even with his dress material billowed and bunched around them from his position on Ben’s lap, Hux could make out the slim length of his legs and the way he arched ever closer to Hux.

“I’ve watched you since your first night on Naboo, and you fascinate me, Lieutenant Hux,” Ben murmured when he pulled back a little to breathe, and Hux cracked an involuntary smile.

“And why is that?” he asked, resting his hands on Ben’s thin waist. He rather enjoyed the feel of Ben’s fingers in his hair, the weight of him in his lap, the sight of his kiss-swollen lips.

“You exude Alpha and rank, hold yourself as one who demands respect and dignity, and yet you respect others just as much, even those lesser than you,” Ben murmured, eyes greedily taking in his future mate’s facial features now that he could do so. “You treat my handmaidens, even your own guards, with such kindness in a way I do not see from distinguished guests or Alphas often.”

“Being an Alpha does not automatically make me a cad,” Hux responded gently, and he could almost see a flush rising under the white paint of the Omega’s cheeks, but the room was dark, so he pushed the thought away.

“You push away praise as though you don’t deserve it,” Ben countered, and Hux chuckled again, moving to take Ben’s fiddling fingers, playing with each digit, just as tough and calloused as his own. “You don’t mind that I fight.”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed that it’s quite the opposite,” Hux said, his smile wry as his eyes flicked back up to meet Ben’s. There was no mistaking the blush now.

“It arouses you.”

“Yes,” Hux inhaled slowly. “You arouse me, if I may be so blunt. You are so unlike any Omega I’ve met before, and it…is stimulating.”

“How am I different?” Ben said.

“You already know,” Hux said, and Ben laughed playfully, his smile wide as he now held Hux’s hand.

“Yes, but I want to hear you say the words rather than read them from your thoughts,” he admitted, and Hux leaned back further into the settee, taking Ben with him, as the Omega now leaned fully into his chest. If anyone were to come in, their position would be most inappropriate for an unmated couple, but Hux wasn’t bothered and clearly Ben was not either. “I dress like an Omega, I am quiet and keep my mouth shut…I cannot help my looks but—”

“I would not change your looks,” Hux interrupted the thought, and he could practically smell Ben’s pleasure at the words. “I wish you spoke more,” he added, and Ben blinked at him.

“Well, behind closed doors, I shall talk so much that you will beg me to stop,” Ben said cheekily, and Hux laughed.

“I’d like to see you try,” he challenged the Omega, relaxing further into the settee. He was remarkably comfortable with the prince despite this being their first genuine conversation. “You think.”

“I think?” Ben asked, and Hux nodded.

“In the First Order, not many Omegas are encouraged to,” he tried to explain. “But you defy those rules—you think, and you’ll argue and scheme, just as your mother does. I need someone who will argue with me when I go wrong.”

“And you will listen to me?” Ben asked, and Hux waited. “When I am Queen of Naboo…you will respect my decisions at the end of the day?” Hux chewed his lip.

“I will always support you while I work to promote the First Order,” Hux said, and Ben nodded, willing to accept the compromise.

“That is all I ask for,” Ben said. Hux felt his eyes narrow in on his mouth, and he accepted the kiss willingly, glad to teach Ben just how to use his tongue, how to tilt his head just so, how to nip his bottom lip…the longer they kissed, the moons rising to light the otherwise darkened room, the more aroused he became, and he finally pulled back.

“You cannot stay here tonight,” he murmured, and Ben watched him with dark eyes and swollen lips.

“If you take off my clothes, you may find I am more Omega than you think,” he murmured, moving Hux’s hand down to his lap and pressing it against the fabric carefully. Hux cleared his throat of the lump and slipped his hand free.

“Yes, I’m sure you are lovely and will satisfy all my Alpha urges,” he said carefully with a dry smile. “But I think it best that we wait until the agreement is fully approved and signed and the wedding over before I bed you.”

“But we will be married anyway, so why does it matter?” Ben nearly whined, eyes flashing with impatience, and Hux was reminded of Leia’s warning that Ben was still young.

“Ben,” he murmured quietly, and Ben stilled at the soft command in his voice. “You are so young still; you do not know what you’re asking for.”

“And what makes you think I’m a virgin?” Ben said angrily, voice rising in decibel as he stood to his feet so swiftly that he nearly fell. Hux hurried to stand as well, sighing in irritation at Ben’s loss of temper. “It doesn’t matter how old I am! I could have spread my legs for dozens of Alphas already—you’re not special!” he spit.

“You could have,” Hux snapped, “But by God, when you spread your legs for me, it will be on our wedding night!”

His voice was loud and angry, crackling as his temper’s fuse was lit, and he tried to control his breathing as Ben stared at him, mouth parted. Before Hux could open his mouth to apologize, Ben turned and rushed from the room, the door slamming shut to interrupt Hux calling his name.

“Damn it.”

Present

Ben moaned wantonly as he buried his face into Hux’s pillow and ground his hips to the pillow under his hips, desperate for some sort of stimulation. Rey had left the room only minutes ago without quite explaining where she was going, so Ben was left panting and almost sobbing as his heat crashed over him in overwhelming waves. If Hux were here, he would murmur sweet words of reassurance in that accent of his, his hands cool and calming on Ben’s flushed skin, and he would fuck him into the mattress the way he _deserved_ —the thought made Ben sob some more, sitting upright to begin pulling off shimmery gauze night clothes so he could move his hips against the pillow better, panting as he gripped the headboard.

“Ben?” called Rey’s voice from behind the closed door, and Ben froze, careful to draw the covers around him again to shield Rey’s poor eyes before swallowing around the dryness in his mouth and bidding her entrance. “I’ve called Hux,” she said.

“Why?” whined Ben, half-sobbing again as he made small furtive motions against the pillow. He didn't look away from the headboard, wishing she would disappear so he could die alone. He just wanted her to leave so he could touch himself and get some kind of _relief **.**_

“Ben?” came an assertive voice from the small disc in Rey’s hand, and Rey watched as Ben’s back muscles stiffened from his position facing the headboard. She smiled to herself and set the image-less holocall on the bedside table before retreating from the room.

“Alpha,” whined Ben, and he could almost see Hux’s smile despite the lack of image attached to his call.

“Only you would be so dramatic an Omega as to go into heat when I leave,” he said affectionately, and Ben could only sob as he rutted against the pillow again. A clear of throat, and assertive Alpha Hux was back. “Ben, stop moving and listen to me.”

“Y-yes, Alpha,” Ben whispered as he forced himself to stop, hanging his head and panting.

“I want you to shut your eyes, Ben,” Hux said, his voice soothing and calming to Ben’s frazzled nerves. “Close your eyes and imagine I’m right next to you, like one of our games where I won’t touch you.”

“I want you to touch me,” Ben moaned, but obeyed as he listened to Hux’s chest-deep chuckle. “I’ve closed my eyes,” he said, and Hux hummed.

“Now, lay on your back,” he murmured, and Ben did as he was told. “You’re naked, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Alpha,” whispered Ben, and as Hux commanded him to spread his legs, he imagined that it was Hux’s hands—so broad and long-fingered and strong—that palmed open his thighs and exposed his warm center to the cool air of the bedroom, making him shiver.

“Touch yourself, but do it as I tell you to,” Hux said, and Ben waited. “Just two fingers, stroke them down your neck to your nipples,” and he listened to Ben moan as he obeyed. “They’re tight and pert now, aren’t they baby,” he said, and Ben moaned in agreement. “Lick your fingers, get them wet like I do, and touch them again.”

Ben panted as he played with his nipples, feeling slick slide down between the globes of his ass to coat the bed. With his eyes shut, he could almost feel Hux beside him on the bed, demanding him to obey in that quiet way of his as he watched Ben come undone with his own hands.

“How does that feel, baby?” Hux asked, and Ben sighed.

“Like your tongue is on me,” he said, words slurred, and Hux sighed as he leaned back in his own guest chambers on the First Order base, loosening his trousers as he lay on the bed, wishing frantically he was with his mate.

“Trail them down your belly, all the way,” he murmured, and he could hear the swish of bedsheets as Ben obeyed, always such an obedient Omega. “Touch your clit, rub it gently.”

“I want your mouth,” Ben cried suddenly, and Hux groaned as his mate’s concentration was lost.

“Shut your eyes, breathe deeply,” he said, and Ben obeyed, desperate to please his mate. He put the pads of his fingers back on his clit and massaged gently, feeling it swell and blossom to life under his own touch, and he imagined it was Hux’s fingers on him, playing him the way he did sometimes when they were being bad at public functions, when Hux could duck his fingers under the table and beneath the privacy of Ben’s skirts and just play with him for hours until the event finished and Ben dragged him breathlessly into his bedroom. Without realizing it, he was unconsciously obeying Hux’s demands while lost in his own fantasy, pulling his own thighs open further, his free hand moving down to dip first one and then two fingers into his slick heat.

“Are you still with me, Ben?” Hux’s voice broke through Ben’s hazy thoughts, and Ben moaned as his own fingers hit a nerve that lit his skin on fire.

“Yes, Alpha,” he gasped, and Hux hummed.

“I want you to sit up, my love, and get on your knees,” Hux said, and Ben hurried to do so. “Face against the headboard, are you comfortable?”

“I want you,” Ben whimpered.

“Are you comfortable?” Hux repeated, and Ben sobbed his affirmative.

“Good boy,” Hux said. “You want to cum, don’t you?”

“Yes, I want to cum,” Ben said.

“Fingers back inside, come on now, baby, try two again,” and Ben obeyed. The new angle felt different, fuller somehow, and Ben loved it. He panted as his other hand came up to play with his nipples, and he rode his own fingers with his eyes still squeeze shut.

“I’ve lost you. What are you thinking about, baby?” asked Hux after long minutes of nothing but panting from the other end of his holocall.

“Riding your cock,” mumbled Ben, and Hux groaned as the honesty of his mate’s words hit him. He thrust accidentally into his hand, and he had to stop himself to focus on Ben.

“Is that so. What do I feel like? Describe it to me, Ben,” Hux said, and for an instant, there was just Ben panting over the airwaves. Then he started and Hux couldn’t resist touching himself again.

“You’re so big, and you fill me up so much,” he said, adding a third finger and pausing to cry out at the stretch. “I feel myself stretching open to take your cock, but I still want _more_ , and you hold onto my hips with your hands. God, I love your hands, they circle my waist perfectly.”

“That arouses you?” asked Hux with an amused tilt of his lips, and Ben’s moan was wanton.

“Yes, Hux, everything about you arouses me,” Ben panted. “You fuck me so hard that I can’t move when we’re done, until I’m shaking and crying and all the bad thoughts go _away_ , and Hux—Hux, I’m going to cum.”

“Good boy,” Hux said breathlessly. “Rub your clit for me.”

Ben cried out loudly as he came, and he knew that his handmaidens in the corridor could no doubt hear him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care as he climaxed around his own fingers. He collapsed onto the bed and buried his face in Hux’s pillow, inhaling deeply and trying to imagine it was his mate beside him scenting him gently as he did after all their couplings.

“How do you feel?” came Hux’s quiet voice after a few minutes, and Ben sighed.

“Wishing I had a knot stretching me open right now and pumping me full of cum,” he said honestly, his voice a sleepy murmur, “but I feel better.”

“Just a few more days, and I’ll be home,” Hux said, his voice gentle and quiet in a way he only displayed when speaking with his mate privately. “I’m sorry about this terrible timing.”

“I’m glad you called,” Ben said, facing the ceiling as he rubbed a palm against the slight swell of his belly gently. He was showing sooner than he had thought. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hux said. “I need to get back to these meetings, though…will you be alright?” he asked, and Ben could almost taste his worry. He smiled, feeling warm that he had someone to love him so, and he turned on his side to pull the covers over his rapidly-cooling body, eager to sleep between waves.

“I’ll be alright,” he said. “See you in a few cycles.”

Five years previously

Hux paced outside Ben’s chambers for a solid three hours the next day, but he did not see Ben once. Poe Dameron, one of Leia’s most trusted advisors, passed the hallway twice before stopping.

“You’re Lieutenant Hux,” Poe said in greeting, holding out a hand, and Hux shook it distractedly.

“Yes,” he said simply.

“Call me Poe. You’re the Prince’s intended mate, isn’t that right?” Poe asked, and Hux finally focused on him, suddenly and intensely.

“You’re very well-informed,” Hux said slowly, and Poe laughed with a sheepish shrug.

“It’s my job to know information,” he said, “whether it’s my business or not. Why are you standing here? You could knock and go right in, you know.”

“Yes, well,” Hux paused, and he could almost see Phasma rolling her eyes through her helmet at him from down the hall. “I somehow don’t think it’ll be that simple.”

Poe stared at him and then laughed.

“I’m late for a meeting with the Queen,” he said. “Walk with me, won’t you?”

Hux obeyed, albeit hesitantly, and Phasma did not join them due to Poe’s wave for her to stay. As they exited the hallway and began down another longer one, Poe spoke softly.

“Ben has always been a wild one,” he said. “We were friends as children, you know…well, I was much older than him, but still—we played and had fun for a while. His temper is unlike any I’ve seen before.”

“Yes,” Hux said simply, and Poe glanced at him knowingly.

“Somehow, I think you might have witnessed that temper already,” he said, and Hux scratched his temple awkwardly.

“I suppose the problem is, I’ve got a temper of my own,” Hux said. “I’ve never met someone able to quicken me to anger quite as well as him though.”

“Yes, he has a real gift,” Poe said dryly. “Word of advice for you, though, Lieutenant.”

“Just Hux is fine,” he corrected as they stopped outside the Queen’s study where three armed guards stood.

“If you cow down and apologize _every_ time, Ben will learn to walk all over you as he does everyone else. He’s a spoiled thing, that kid…I think you might just help him learn a valuable lesson.”

“So I shouldn’t stand outside his room wringing my hands until he takes pity on me?” Hux asked, and Poe laughed.

“Probably not the best idea,” he said. He paused again as he half-turned to enter the room. “I never took you for a man so willing to take shit from his Omega.”

“I’m not,” Hux said after a though. “But when I’m in the wrong too—and our relationship is the key to a multiple-planet agreement—I’m eager to tread lightly.”

“Don’t approach your marriage like it’s the First Order-Naboo agreement,” came Leia’s dry voice as she seemed to materialize behind Poe, startling them both. “Ben is difficult—the unlucky combination of Han and me.”

“Han?” Hux questioned, and Poe’s lips quirked.

“Han Solo, the Queen’s Consort,” he explained, and Hux nodded. So the smuggler had a name.

“Let Ben come to you,” Leia said with a wink.

“And will he?” questioned Hux, and Leia laughed.

“If you make him work hard enough, yes,” she said.

“Food for thought,” Hux said, mind already elsewhere. He bowed to them both and disappeared down the hallway.

“What do you think of him?” asked Leia as Poe followed her into her office, the doors shutting quietly behind them.

“He’s fiercely loyal to the First Order and clearly eager for this deal to work,” Poe said. “But I find him refreshingly obvious in his intentions, and he seems honest unlike the First Order scum I’ve seen so far.”

“I think he thinks that everyone will honor their part of this signed agreement,” Leia said with a small, almost sad smile as she sat and accepted the tea Poe handed her. “He thinks the First Order will only leave their troops here at the barracks, and he will only provide the political swing necessary to keep First Order business as a priority of Naboo policy.”

“So you don’t think he’s in on any scheme?”

“No,” Leia admitted. “I think he will be as much a victim of the First Order’s greed as we will be.”

“Why did you agree to this?” Poe asked, frustration lacing his words, and Leia sighed.

“I knew the First Order would be knocking on Naboo’s door soon enough, and I knew if I didn’t agree to their terms, we would be destroyed—there are whispers of a planet destroyer, capable of destroying us all with the press of a button.”

“Our hands are tied,” Poe said, scrubbing his face tiredly. “The First Order will not honor the rules, they’ll take over our government and destroy us with the land troops we agreed to host here, and Naboo will be ended, just another First Order prison camp.”

“Not necessarily,” Leia said. “If we can soften Hux to see our side, we may yet have a chance. If the First Order is using him as a chess piece, he will be promoted soon.”

“True,” Poe said. “They would be less willing to double cross him.”

“We would think,” Leia nodded. “And if the First Order tried a land attack, we have a secret weapon.”

“Does Hux know of Ben’s unity with the Force?” asked Poe curiously, and Leia shook her head.

“Ben mentioned that Hux knows he reads his thoughts, but Ben said he did not explain his full powers.”

“I don’t think he should,” Poe said, and Leia sighed.

“If Ben falls in love with Hux, he will confess everything to Hux, and we cannot know that Hux will not turn around and spill all our secrets to the First Order,” she voiced her concerns. The silence was heavy, ominous in the room, and then Poe downed his tea in a breath and laughed.

“Yes,” he admitted. “That is a possibility. But there’s another.”

“And what’s that?” asked Leia, and Poe laughed at the thought.

“Hux might just fall in love too.”


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, so I am shooketh that I got such nice comments and I got kudos, and my heart is filled with joy over this. So thank you!
> 
> Part 2, here we go. Woo!

Five years previously

“I don’t suppose we’ll ever go home now, will we,” Phasma commented as they prepared for dinner, and Hux paused in fixing his jacket, turning to his closest friend. “Now that you’re marrying this kid, and I’m your bodyguard and all.”

“We can get you reassigned,” Hux suggested quietly, and he watched her fluff her short-cropped blonde hair in the reflection. “There’s no shame in that, Phasma.”

“I was born on a First Order patrol base and have spent my entire life planet-side only for small missions,” Phasma said quietly, looking out the window. “I…I could grow to like this, I think. The air, the suns’ light, the sound of animals singing in the bushes, the water of the river. It’s peaceful.”

“Am I foolish in thinking I can handle this?” asked Hux, and Phasma scoffed.

“I don’t think anyone deserves what you’ve signed up for,” she said. “He may live in a man’s body, but he is still a child at heart, and he will hurt you more than he will love you.”

“Yes,” Hux admitted, and Phasma found it striking how Hux already had resigned himself to his fate—to be mated to so tempestuous an Omega was daunting, overwhelming, and rather exhausting, she could imagine.

“I think you will bring honor to a position not many else could,” she found herself saying. From the soft blush on his face, she knew she had pleased him with the compulsive words; hiding her smile, she put her helmet on and started for the door. “Let’s go so I can watch you all eat food that will be a hell of a lot better than the food I’ll be served this evening.”

“We do need to talk about your position if we’re stuck here,” Hux said as they strode down the hallway. “You shouldn’t be trapped in the uniform forever. Perhaps a member of my official staff as the Prince’s Consort or—”

“If you take my helmet or my gun away from me, I’ll drown you in that peaceful little river and no one will ever suspect it was me,” Phasma stopped to say in her low, metallic voice. Hux laughed.

“Understood,” he said, and they continued.

Hux was careful to do little more than nod and greet Ben as politely as possible that evening, spending as much time as possible engaging in conversation with those seated around him. Leia had said to make Ben work for it, so Hux was careful not to give the temperamental little Omega any attention besides the most polite and respectful cordiality due any member of the Royal family.

Poe watched him with a smirk for the entirety of the dinner, clearly delighted with his performance, and Hux watched as Ben tried again and again to get his attention without success. The Omega seemed to be boiling by the time dinner was dismissed, and Poe took Hux out on the veranda for a night cap, so Hux saw little more than the Omega storming off with an elegant sweep of his gown, his handmaidens trailing behind him in their golden sunset robes.

“I’d like you to attend our meeting with the First Order at their patrol base off Tatooine next week,” Poe said, and Hux cradled his glass as he waited. “The Queen and I discussed it, and we mutually agree that as our First Order contact and a primary party of this agreement’s terms, you should be present.”

“If you’re worried for your safety at a First Order base, I can assure you that all luxuries and security will be afforded you,” Hux said with a frown, and Poe laughed.

“Our only reasoning is what I just listed,” he insisted, and Hux sipped his drink.

“Then of course, I’m happy to accompany you and Queen Leia,” he said. “Will Ben be joining us?”

“Ben does not like the First Order,” Poe said with a dry smirk. “He would not be very pleasant to be around if he came.”

“Heavens, why is he marrying me?” Hux mused aloud as he looked up at the moons, and Poe turned to him.

“I lost my mate, our child, and our home to First Order soldiers in the Great Rebellion,” he said, and Hux inhaled sharply. The Great Rebellion, even a decade past in history, still seemed fresh in many people’s minds, including Hux’s—Rebellion soldiers had attempted to destroy a First Order base and in blatant retaliation, First Order guards defied direct orders and attacked three bases on a conjoined planet. They’d left no survivors, killing women, children, First Order soldiers and supporters. It was considered one of the First Order’s biggest faux pas’ and lost them many supporters from allies of an already-dwindling Rebellion.

“I have no love for the First Order,” Poe said, his voice trembling minutely. “If I thought you were anything like the government whose insignia you wear, I would not try to befriend you.”

The moment was tense, and so Poe moved to leave. Hux’s voice, calm and gentle, gave him pause.

“Your mate and child,” he said, watching Poe turn to him. “What were their names?”

“His name was Finn,” Poe said in a tight voice, face turning away from Hux entirely. “He wanted the baby’s gender to be a surprise, so we waited on picking names.”

Hux swallowed heavily.

"I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Do you want company?” questioned Phasma gently when they returned to Hux’s room, sensing her friend’s low spirits. Hux shook his head.

“No, I need sleep,” he said. “You should do the same,” he said, and Phasma nodded. She waited until he was inside before starting down the hallway. She paused when she saw Rey lurking in the shadows.

“Shouldn’t you be with the Prince?” she asked, and she saw how Rey’s eyes flitted unconsciously to Hux’s door. She glanced back and paused, figuring out the solution immediately. “Does he mean Hux any harm?” she asked gently, and Rey was silent. In an instant, she began to stride back towards the door, and Rey ran to catch up with her, her shorter legs needing to work much faster than Phasma’s towering height.

“He came to apologize,” Rey said frantically, trying to stop her, and Phasma froze. “Really, he did, I promise. I…please don’t interrupt them,” she pleaded. “They need this time to learn about each other!”

“So sneaking is the option he chose,” Phasma said, drawing out the word slowly, and Rey nodded.

“Trust me,” she said. She inhaled. “We will work closely with each other in the future after all.”

“I know nothing but your name,” Phasma spit. “Do not ask me to _trust_ you.”

“Then learn about me,” Rey said brightly, her smile blinding, and Phasma blinked. “Come on, let’s walk. They’ll take ages to work things out anyway.”

“Are all those from Naboo so strange?” Phasma mused as she followed the petite woman down the hallway, not quite understanding what she was doing.

“My, I feel we’ve been here before,” drawled Hux tiredly as he turned on the lights to see Ben’s figure waiting for him. He was dressed casually now, trousers, a loose tunic, and shoes, his hair relaxed around his face, free of makeup. “You know, I’m a trained soldier. You’re lucky I haven’t shot you yet.”

“You couldn’t shoot me,” Ben said with such assurance that Hux laughed.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, and Ben waited until he had sunk into the couch before moving like lightning to slide right into Hux’s lap again, kissing his mouth gently. Hux allowed it, rather fond of the taste of Ben’s mouth, and he marveled at how fast the boy learned how to kiss _well_. When he pulled back, he even allowed the Omega to nuzzle his cheek and neck, scenting him, though Hux wasn’t sure Ben even knew just how intimate the action was. He sighed, arms tightening around his waist, and leaned his head back, enjoying the calm exchange of pheromones, the warmth and comfort it provided.

When Ben had calmed, and the two were lying together, Ben still straddling his lap, face in his chest, Hux spoke again, his voice calm and quiet.

“What are you doing here, Ben?”

“I came to apologize,” came a murmur against Hux’s neck, and Hux swallowed to suppress his laughter…Poe had been right.

“What for?” he asked, keeping quiet and cooperative, and Ben sighed heavily as he adjusted in Hux’s lap as if trying to bury himself deeper into his chest.

“I tried to pressure you to hurry things along, and then I got upset when you refused me,” he grumbled. “I _am_ a virgin,, and I just…I’m nervous.”

“I know,” Hux said, trying to hide his smirk in the dark. He must not have been successful, because Ben smacked his chest with a huff.

“Don’t mock me,” he said, and Hux didn’t hide his laughter as he wrapped his arms tighter around Ben.

“Sorry, sorry,” he said. “You’re too fun to tease, really.” He sighed in contentment, rather enjoying holding his Omega in the dark like this. Without quite realizing it, he was stroking Ben’s hair and neck gently, and Ben hummed happily at the gesture, picking at Hux’s uniform gently.

“Do you regret making this decision? To marry me,” he asked very quietly, and Hux hummed.

“No,” he said honestly. “Why?”

“Because I’m so much younger than you,” Ben said, “Because I have a temper and I’m impatient, and I say a lot of nonsense before thinking it through.”

“I have a temper too,” Hux said thoughtfully. “I think we’ll cancel each other out at the end of the day. And impatience calms with age, Ben. When I was eighteen, I did foolish things all the time.”

Ben sighed and moved to lie down along the length of the settee, bringing Hux with him. Hux obeyed, enjoying the long stretch of their bodies against each other, the way their legs intertwined intimately. They were nearly the same height, both far taller than most others in the room save Phasma, and he liked the way they fit together.

“How old are you?” asked Ben, and Hux chewed his lower lip.

“Twenty-eight,” he said, and Ben sighed.

“Ten years,” he said without needing to. “That’s…a lot,” he said. Hux hummed and leaned back down again to kiss Ben gently, coaxing his lips to move against his slowly and gently.

“Not too much time that we cannot connect with each other,” he said gently, and Ben hummed, cheeks flushed as Hux pulled back. He moved his fingertips along the smooth expanse of Ben’s nose, then across his cheekbones and down his chin. “You are beautiful all the time, but without the makeup, I see Ben.”

“And what do you think of him?” whispered the Omega shyly, and Hux traced the lips before smiling warmly, looking very dashing in that moment.

“I think I like him a great deal,” he whispered.

Present

Hux landed and strode through the hallways with purpose that only meant one thing to Phasma, who trailed behind him. She sighed heavily, knowing she was about to hear loud sex, but she willed herself to continue following him. As he neared their bedchamber, sensing his mate’s presence through their bond, she almost considered disappearing, but Poe stood in the doorway with Han, and Hux paused. Something wasn’t right.

“What’s going on?” he asked sharply, and Han slapped him on the shoulder in greeting.

“Hey kid,” he said. “Glad you’re back on solid ground.”

“It’s already feeling a bit rocky,” Hux responded immediately, pushing his way inside to find his mate. Ben sat on the settee in his nightgown, something he wouldn’t otherwise do if the galaxy was exploding, and his weary expression melted when he saw his mate. Hux crouched in front of him and pulled him into his arms, scenting him carefully to ensure he was okay.

“What’s going on? Are you alright? Why is everyone here?” he asked frantically, so unlike his usual stoic self, and Ben sighed.

“I’m okay, but I’m glad you’re home,” he murmured. “Rey found who poisoned me,” he said, and he watched how Hux stiffened and turned to Rey, who was greeting Phasma with a gentle nudge on the cheek.

“It was Lord Snoke,” Rey said, and the room stilled. “He convinced a servant to lace the dress with poison that morning.” The silence was thick, and Hux felt Ben’s fingers tremble where they clasped his uniform jacket.

“Why would he do this? He’s been a supporter of Naboo for years…since Ben was a baby!” Han said, an expression of gob smacked disbelief on his face.

“Has anyone tried to make contact with Snoke?” Hux said, practically spitting the name, and Poe straightened.

“We can arrange a meeting, something that will seem normal and not alert him to our knowledge of his actions,” he suggested. “He likes to come to the Queen’s meetings. Should we arrange it?”

“Yes,” Ben said decisively. “We’ll see if he’ll slip somehow, spill why he did this.”

“I don’t like the idea of you being alone with him,” Hux murmured, and Ben huffed, wanting to argue.

“He won’t be,” Poe interrupted, and blue eyes landed on Poe. He didn’t stand down in the face of the Alpha’s annoyance. “I’ll be there…and so will you.”

“I still don’t like this idea,” murmured Hux that evening as he undressed for bed, shedding his uniform piece by piece. Dinner had been a quiet affair, everyone in their own thoughts, thinking of the attempted assassination. It cast a solemn note on everything. Ben watched him from bed, feeling drowsy but determined to stay awake long enough to spend time with his mate. Hux finally slid into bed beside him, the balcony doors open to let in a breeze to cool the heat of Naboo summer that collected over the day.

“You know I can protect myself from a wrinkly old man,” Ben murmured as Hux gathered him in his arms, humming happily as his large hands slid over his warm body. He tilted his face up for a kiss, and Hux gave it instantly, pulling him closer, closer until they could not be separated, a thick thigh hitched over his hip, Ben’s nightgown slipping apart for Hux to bury himself inside Ben’s warm body with ease.

“I love you,” murmured Hux against Ben’s parted lips as the Omega gasped. Hux thrust gently into his slick embrace, and Ben repeated the words as a mantra, over and over again until he crashed into his climax with a shudder and a cry, accepting Hux’s knot as he sleepily rubbed his face and neck against Hux to scent him. They were sweaty, but neither minded, eager for the closeness and contact after so many days apart.

“I have something to tell you, a secret I’ve been hiding for too long now,” murmured Ben, and Hux hummed, feeling drowsy as his knot throbbed and began to deflate. Without sound, Ben moved Hux’s large palm down his body to the bump just beginning to swell above his pelvis where they were connected so intimately. It took a breath for Hux to understand, and he crushed Ben into his chest with happiness.

“You don’t jest?” he asked, voice thick, and Ben openly cried as he shook his head.

“No jest,” he promised.

“I love you, you beautiful Omega,” Hux said, kissing all over his face happily.

Five years previously

“You are quieter than usual,” Leia commented as she sat signing papers Poe handed to her one at a time, pausing now and then to scan the contents or seek clarification. Ben sighed from his position in a library chair, loosely holding a book but focused more on something outside the large bay windows. “What’s on your mind?”

“Lieutenant Hux,” Ben said honestly, and Leia straightened from the desk. A glance at Poe, and the young man was leaving the library with a small hidden smile, happy to give the two royals their privacy.

“There’s no shame in admitting having second thoughts, you know,” Leia said, and Ben shook his head, turning back to his mother. He was dressed in red silk, one of his favorite outfits, and while his hair was ornately woven into a bun, his face was free of makeup and unusually casual.

“No, that’s not my concern,” he said, and Leia moved to sit beside him, leaning over to intertwine her fingers with his. “Father won’t like him.”

“ _That’s_ what you’re worried about?” Leia asked, trying to hide her laughter and failing. “Oh Ben.”

“You know how he gets when he fixates on things!” Ben defended himself with a frown, turning back to face his mother. “He’ll pick at him and try to fluster him, and any little thing Hux says wrong, Father will latch onto it and use it to destroy him!”

“Always so dramatic,” Leia teased him, leaning in to pat his face. “Your father is still off with Chewie on one of his adventures, so I wouldn’t trouble that pretty head with it now. But dear—do you really think Hux will be easily flustered?”

“Few things do,” Ben agreed hesitantly.

“Hux is a military man, used to order and structure and precision,” Leia said. “Though their personalities may clash, I think they may get along better than you think.”

Long minutes of silence passed with Leia stroking the soft veins along Ben’s hand. Then he sighed again, and she rolled her eyes.

“What is it now?” she asked, and Ben turned to face her in his seat, an almost childish, petulant motion.

“I suppose it would be very Omega of me to go looking for him because I miss his company,” he said, and Leia chewed her lip in mock thought to hide laughing instead.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘Omega’ of you, but as long as you’re not bothering the lieutenant’s important work, I don’t think he’ll mind,” she advised carefully. And she watched in amazement as her son—always one to feign disinterest in things, to act cold and calloused towards everyone in an attempt to protect himself—practically ran from the room. She looked out the window and saw Hux’s long, broad figure sitting on a bench under the shade of a tree, waving his arms as he talked to his personal guard, who stood in a relaxed fashion Leia had not seen before.

In a position mirroring her son’s from only minutes previously, she watched in amazement as Ben appeared, walking with an elegant grace he had not displayed with Leia, pausing as if he just _happened_ to run into Hux. Leia watched in delight at the way Hux seemed to brighten at the sight of him, moving to take his arm and walk with him down the lane and out of sight.

“Who taught him how to do that?” she mused thoughtfully before hurrying to look busy at her desk as Poe knocked on the door and let himself inside.

Hux straightened his uniform collar as he prepared to walk down the plank beside Leia and Poe onto the First Order base. Their trip had been short, just less than one full day, and Hux was already missing the soft warmth of Naboo, which he did not expect. He also missed the young Omega waiting for him, although he’d left with his honey sweet smell on his neck and the taste of his tongue on his lips. It was easy to care for Ben; with such a vivid personality, he filled a space in Hux that he did not know before existed.

Hux blinked the overly emotional thought from his mind as they greeted General Juju, and together, they entered an official conference hall.

“Are all First Order bases so grey and white?” muttered Poe to Hux under his breath as they exchanged pleasantries, and Hux shushed him gently.

“We mustn’t offend,” he said. He paused. “But yes.”

“Lieutenant Hux, I hope you can understand the gravity of this situation,” General Juju tried to explain as they began proceedings. “This agreement rests upon one of the most temperamental components possible—a bond.”

“Both parties of the marriage agreed willing without coercion to the bond,” Hux insisted. “Arranged marriages have been historically used to keep peace. I see no reason why they cannot be used in this instance as well.”

“This isn’t a matter of simply keeping the peace,” Juju tried to argue, and Leia watched silently as Hux suppressed his sigh.

“Naboo showed concerns that land troops being barracked on their land would be problematic without a sign of good faith,” he explained. “In order to keep this end of the agreement and allow for some political sway for the First Order, a compromise needed to be made. I did what I felt was best for both parties involved.”

“Lieutenant Hux, you acted out of line in a manner, quite frankly, above your station,” Juju’s companion, a young woman with a nasal voice and hair drawn away from her face entirely too tightly, interrupted. “Many others would have been a more suitable match for the Naboo heir.”

“His Royal Highness, Prince Ben Organa, chose Lieutenant Hux himself,” Poe said, placing stress on the correct way to incorporate Ben’s name in a conversation. The woman flushed appropriately, so Poe continued. “He believes Lieutenant Hux to be an honorable, upright man who would work to achieve the best possible benefits for both the First Order _and_ Naboo. We could not agree more with that belief, and we chose to support this union.”

“I fail to see where the problem lies,” Leia spoke for the first time when Juju opened his mouth to argue again. “You get troops and political sway. I get a mate for my son and your written promise that you won’t destroy us if we do not abide by every rule you ordain to be sacred.”

“I beg your pardon,” flushed Juju, and Leia didn’t blink.

“You’re pardoned,” she said simply, and Hux cleared his throat to divert the conversation back again.

“These are sensitive times, and Naboo showing alliance with the First Order in this small step might encourage other systems to also form alliances and allegiances with the First Order,” he argued, and he knew he had spoken enough truth to give Juju pause. “Naboo is prosperous and wealthy—their people are admired, and their Royalty are spoken of and worshipped across the galaxy. His Royal Highness Ben Organa will be Queen one day, and even now, he is a light of hope for those seeking independent governments from the First Order. With this allegiance, we cast a better light on the First Order. We may mark the age of a new beginning of peace and prosperity.”

“Your words sound deceivingly promising,” Juju said wearily. “But while I agree that a marriage might be better than I first considered, I still do not believe, Lieutenant Hux, that you are the right man for the job.”

“Lieutenant Hux _will_ marry my son, General Juju,” Leia said with a calm assertiveness that quietened the room. “If it is his rank that gives you grief, then I suggest you amend that problem at your earliest convenience.” She stood. “I think our conversation is ended. We shall sign our agreement and leave at the beginning of the next cycle.”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” General Juju said begrudgingly, standing as they watched the queen glide out of the room. He turned to glare at Hux. “You’re about to skip several ranks, and I do not appreciate the way you weaseled your way into this position.”

“I didn’t weasel my way at all,” Hux said, standing with Poe and gathering his things carefully. “I walked my way there, same as you. Good day.”

Present

“My, my, _General_ ,” breathed Ben airily as his mouth skimmed down Hux’s belly, over tight muscles and smooth, pale skin, before licking along the swell of his hipbone. “Did you miss me that much?”

“I had to listen to you pleasure yourself through a heat over a holocall,” Hux responded dryly as he watched his Omega nuzzle the base of his cock in a strangely endearing way. Ben hummed and used the broad expanse of his tongue to lick up his length slowly, dark eyes fixed on Hux’s. The Alpha’s eyes were always so startlingly blue but get the man in bed and those eyes darkened in a way that stole Ben’s breath.

Ben hummed as he chuckled against Hux’s cock, taking it in his hand and stroking with long fingers.

“Did you touch yourself while I moaned your name and begged for you?” he asked, pausing to suck on the tip with puffy lips, wide eyes innocent as Hux groaned with a guttural sound.

“Of course I did,” he murmured, watching Ben relax his jaw to take more of his cock down his throat. “I knotted my hand,” he confessed, and Ben groaned as he took still more into his mouth. He loved Hux’s large hands in his hair, holding it back so he could see, loved the heavy weight and silky feel of his cock in his mouth as he sucked frantically.

“I wanted that knot,” Ben murmured when he pulled off completely to take a breath, pumping his hand up and down before spitting on the tip for added lubrication.

“I’ll give it to you now if you want,” Hux teased, and Ben huffed his laughter.

“I do want it, but not where you think,” he drawled slowly. Then he sank back down again on the cock, until it hit the very back of his throat, and he gagged around it. He would have pulled back had Hux not held his head in place, urging him in a low voice to swallow, and Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head as he was urged to take the cock even deeper. He did so, enjoying the wet squelch his mouth made against Hux, and he inhaled gratefully when Hux pulled him off.

“You want my knot in your mouth?” Hux confirmed, and Ben hummed with a nod, pumping it again.

“Yes, Hux,” he whispered. “Please knot my mouth, _Alpha_ ,” and it was just a few thrusts more before Hux was coming undone under his touch. He moaned heavily as his mouth stretched to accept his mate’s knot, but he swallowed obediently and settled down along Hux’s legs to wait. Hux’s fingers brushed against his face lovingly, chest rising and falling rapidly as he came down from his high and as soon as his knot deflated just slightly, he was heaving Ben up into his arms and kissing him frantically.

“I love you,” he murmured, over and over again, moving down to kiss the bump, scenting it happily, and Ben sighed as he melted against the pillows, happy to spread his legs for his reward.

“I love you too,” he said, before his breath caught in his throat. “Oh God, _Hux_!”

“Hey kid,” Han greeted Hux the next morning when the general entered the dining room for breakfast. “With all the excitement yesterday, I didn’t ask how the meetings went on the First Order patrol base.”

“They were dull and uncomfortable, as expected,” Hux said dryly as he sat down and accepted the plate of steaming food from the servant with a grateful nod. He thought it best not to mention how Ben had distracted him with his heat holocalls the entire time. He picked up his glass and took a sip. “There was much groveling and apologizing on Ben’s behalf after the outrageous scene he made when General Juju paid us a visit,” he said.

“Ben told me something about the man professing to own Naboo,” Han murmured quietly, and he watched Hux’s face tighten.

“General Juju felt it worth mentioning that part of our agreement with the First Order included patrol bases along the seacoast with no limit on the number of soldiers assigned here,” he said. “Ben got a little…upset over the general’s suggested increase of patrol numbers and said that he should have say over the number as the official ruler of Naboo, to which Juju responded by saying—”

“That the First Order co-rules Naboo as part of that contract?” Han suggested with a flat voice, and Hux nodded. He sighed. “I’m sure my son loved hearing that.”

“Words were exchanged,” Hux said. “But with minor groveling and blaming Ben’s behavior on the poisoning fiasco, I was able to smooth things out. Juju was very lenient, surprisingly so.”

“Unusual for him,” Han said with a smirk, which Hux returned.

“I think he may have been more lenient when I reminded him that the agreement was signed to last just six years, which thank the stars Leia had the foresight to demand as part of her bargain. Just one more year, and Juju gets nothing if he isn’t well-behaved.”

“Will Ben re-sign the agreement at the end of the year?” asked Han curiously, and Hux shook his head.

“No, I think not,” he said. “We’ve received little benefit from the agreement but have been exponentially damaged financially by housing the First Order troops, since they don’t even think to supply their own men with provisions.” He paused. “But I shouldn’t speak for Ben.”

“Where is he, by the way?” asked Han curiously, used to seeing his son waltz into the room in full regalia looking too much like his mother.

“Sleeping, I should think,” Hux said. “The baby has him up most of the night.”

Han hummed and fixed Hux with a solemn look.

“I’m proud of you,” he said suddenly, and Hux stared back, surprised. “Both of you. Leia would be proud of what you’ve done together…for Naboo, for your family.”

“You should tell your son that,” Hux pushed the older Omega gently but smiled graciously when he saw the time. “Excuse me, I have a meeting with Poe.”

Phasma approached Rey in the courtyard as the petite woman walked gently along the path holding a basket filled with fabric. Phasma reached out and caught Rey’s shoulder with her long arm, twirling her into her embrace. Rey laughed in delight as she felt into Phasma’s broad chest, looking up with a wide, delighted smile.

“You didn’t find me yesterday,” she tried and failed to pout at the Beta, who leaned down to kiss her gently.

“Hux had me running errands most of the day,” she murmured, moving to kiss the soft skin of Rey’s neck. “I promptly fell into bed and was asleep.”

“Did you dream of me at least?” asked Rey cheekily, and Phasma hummed as she pressed the small figure closer into her embrace.

“Let’s find an empty room, and I’ll tell you,” she murmured. Rey squealed but obeyed, letting the Beta drag her along the path towards her chambers, pausing every now and then to kiss Phasma desperately, letting any passerby know exactly what they would be getting up to.

Five years previously

“Lieutenant Hux, I wondered if perhaps you had forgotten about me since it has been so many days since your return,” came Ben’s gentle voice, silky and soft, when Hux sat down for tea in the library sitting space. He was dressed to impress, and Hux wondered briefly if he had dressed up for _him_ , but he quickly banished the thought from his mind. There must have been some meeting or public appearance that had required the prince to wear lavender silk that clung to his curves in such an attractive and eye-catching way, his dark hair pulled back and gleaming in the sun’s light from the window, face painted pristinely. Even his lips seemed plumper today, and Hux had trouble resisting the urge to stare at them.

“Queen Leia suggested I tell you of the news from the meeting,” Hux said, and Ben blinked slowly, clearly waiting. Rey, sitting beside him, seemed more impatient to hear the news, her breath audibly hitched as she waited. “General Juju has signed the agreement. We are to married in a month’s time.”

Rey’s breath was released.

Ben remained silent.

Silent for so long that Hux swallowed the lump in his throat and tried to ignore the plummet of his stomach—perhaps the distance had cleared Ben’s foggy mind, made him aware of how poor a match they were. Perhaps he would laugh at Hux, say how foolish Hux had been to think Ben would be interested in a lowly military man with no experience co-ruling a prosperous _planet_ alongside such a clearly accomplished royal.

“I have also been promoted to General in order to accommodate our differences in rank,” Hux added quickly, eager to fill the silence that was growing suffocating and uncomfortable. Ben merely blinked again. Hux waited a minute, then another, then another, hearing the soft ticking of the clock in the far corner. The few sips of tea he had taken rolled in his stomach, and he suddenly felt ill. This was a mistake. What was he thinking?

“Excuse me,” he stammered, standing and bowing politely. His face felt hot, and he realized with a start that he was embarrassed…he hadn’t been so mortified since he was a child and his father beat him into a bloody mess of skin and bones in a public square on his home planet for all to see. “I—I have…things…to do,” he stammered inelegantly, and he almost ran from the room.

The doors shut, and Rey turned to Ben in shock.

“What was that?” she asked, outraged, and Ben blinked.

“He ignores me for days, and now he tells me when we shall marry? I have every right to be upset” he said, and Rey’s mouth dropped further.

“Ben, I don’t sit here reading his thoughts, but you just—just _crushed_ him!”

“He will get over it!” Ben protested, though he played with his fingers nervously. “I don’t know why he got so upset,” he said haughtily, trying to defend himself, and Rey huffed.

“Respectfully, Your _Highness_ , you are an idiot,” she said to her closest friend. “You need to apologize.”

“Why do I have to apologize?” Ben said, his own temper rumbling under his skin, and Rey blinked.

“Ben, he just came in here to tell you that your wish has been granted, and you can mate, and you said _nothing_ in response. How is he supposed to take that?” She sighed and dropped her face into her hands, shaking it gently. “His face—”

“I’ll go apologize,” Ben murmured quietly, standing slowly and hurrying out the door after the Alpha.

Hux was across the courtyard and moving fast down the hallway towards his room when Ben caught up to him, having to run to make up the space.

“Lieutenant Hux, stop please,” Ben called, making himself stop walking quite so fast so he still looked aloof and in control of the situation. Hux didn’t stop, didn’t even slow, as he strode on extraordinarily long legs down the hallway towards the open door. And Ben…he didn’t like that. Hux should stop, he should pay attention to _Ben_. So he stopped walking with a swish of his silk dress, and held out his hands, letting the Force work.

“ **Stop** ,” he said, and the door Hux was nearly reaching swung shut just inches from Hux’s face. And Ben watched him stop short at the action and then very carefully turn to face Ben. They were separated by fifteen, twenty feet at least, but Ben could see the anger—the confusion—radiating from Hux.

“What…was that,” Hux stated, a hand pointed behind him to the door, and suddenly Ben’s anger fizzled. Oh dear.

“Coincidence,” he tried, but Hux was livid, shaking his head the instant the word fell from Ben’s lips.

“No, no, it wasn’t,” he said, striding towards Ben. “Is it witchcraft? Magic? I don’t understand what is going on around here, but there is too much of this mind-reading and party tricks.”

“It’s not magic,” Ben said, anger back, and Hux squinted. He reeked of Alpha pheromones, angry and brittle and bitter, and Ben’s Omega bristled at the scent, but his own temper was ticked. “It must have just been the wind.”

“Don’t lie to me!” roared Hux, his voice bouncing off walls, and two maids cleaning the drapery in the corner cowered and hurried away from the angry couple. “I’m tired of the lying, Ben! I’ve walked around this place as if I were stepping on eggshells for _months_ to be treated like a doll, like your personal plaything for you to look at and play with when you see fit. I try to talk to you, and you say _nothing_. I try to connect with you, and you respond like a spoiled child. And now this, this…wizardry!”

“Hux,” Ben tried to interrupt, his own cheeks red with his anger, hands fisted at his side, and Hux scoffed.

“What?” he shouted. “I’m tired of it, Ben. I’m tired of these _games_.”

Something snapped inside Ben.

“If you had any ideas of the power I have, you would eat out of my hand like a dog,” Ben sneered, and he didn’t notice how Hux stiffened at his words, his temper blinding him. “I could force you to obey me if I wished, command you so you would do everything I bid you to without even realizing it. I could strangle you with a look, without even putting a finger against you. I am more powerful than you could ever dream of being and still you act like we are equals, like we will _ever_ be equals. I will be the Queen of Naboo. And you will be _nothing_ , nobody but an Alpha to satisfy me when I want you.”

The silence between them was deafening, and as soon as the impulsive words left Ben’s mouth, he regretted them. He had never felt such anger, such darkness, in his entire life, but it fizzled out in seconds when he caught the look on Hux’s face.

“Hux,” he whispered, but Hux stumbled back one step, two, three, until he could feel the door handle behind him.

“I don’t know who you are,” Hux said shakily, “but I want no part of this.”

“Hux, wait,” whispered Ben, panic clutching at his throat, squeezing, and Hux wrenched open the door to disappear from Ben’s view, his words heavy in the air. Ben’s body was trembling as he glanced back the way he’d come to see Leia standing there, out of breath from clearly running, and she stared at Ben with wide eyes. “What have I done?” Ben asked his mother. _What have I done?_

Present

“Lord Snoke has responded to Poe’s request,” Ben told Hux conversationally when he heard his mate come into their bedchambers. He rested his head back against the warmed side of his bath, watching for the Alpha to appear in the doorway. Hux did, missing his uniform jacket, sleeves rolled up to reveal strong forearms that Ben strangely wanted to lick.

Hux took in the sight of his mate, hair pulled back from his face, cheeks rosy from the steam, and he smiled warmly at him. He stepped into the room and sat down beside the tub, running a hand along the silky-smooth skin of the closest leg under the water.

“He told me,” he said. “Let’s not talk of such things right before bed…how was your day?”

“Father bothered me during all my meetings,” Ben told him factually, making his husband laughed, and he lifted wet fingers to run through the Alpha’s red hair, messing it gently. “You weren’t at dinner.”

“No, my meeting ran late, so I stopped by the kitchens to bother Rey and Phasma instead,” Hux said, hand moving under the water to cup the bump. It was subtle still, but now that he knew it was there, he couldn’t stop touching it. He paused visibly. “Should you be sitting in a tub of hot water? Isn’t that bad for the baby?”

“I made sure it wasn’t too hot,” Ben murmured. “I asked the medical droid specially to make sure, don’t fret so much.”

“I can’t help it,” Hux murmured, amazed at the tightness of the skin, the firm swell under his fingertips. He had never expected this, both believing Ben to be unable to bear children after so many years without success. “I’m learning as we go. Your scent is changing,” he added randomly, and Ben laughed.

“Rey mentioned that,” he said. “I rather like the idea of it.”

“So do I,” murmured Hux, leaning over the tub to kiss Ben’s soft mouth gently. When he pulled back, Ben pulled him back with wet fingers on his shirt, licking into his mouth softly. Hux hummed when he was finally released, licking his lips as his eyes roamed over Ben’s face. “You’re aroused,” he murmured, and Ben laughed, shoving him back.

“I am always aroused when I’m near you,” he said, and he loved the sound of his Alpha’s laugh.

“Well, hurry up and finish bathing so your poor handmaiden can be sent to bed,” Hux said, gesturing to the maid situated just by the doorway, holding a towel and waiting. Ben chewed his bottom lip as he watched Hux with dark eyes.

“Will you fuck me if I hurry?” he asked, and Hux stared at him as he stood.

“Rose, you’re dismissed for the night,” Hux said in the silence of the room, eyes still holding Ben’s, and Ben bit his bottom lip again with a cheeky smile at his mate’s words.

“Oh, thank you, General Hux,” muttered Rose with visible gratefulness, depositing the towel on the closest counter before hurrying out of the room. The Queen, though a wonderful Royal and companion, was always so _open_ about his sexual pleasures, and Rose would prefer to not listen to the mates’ conversation about sex.

Hux bent and lifted his mate out of the tub with ease, and Ben hummed happily as he snuggled into the Alpha’s strong arms as he was carried out of the fresher and onto his bed, not caring about the water droplets.

“I’m always aroused by you as well,” Hux said as he sat back to take off his now-soaked and transparent white shirt, and his darkened eyes took in every curve and swell of Ben’s body as he stretched his hands up over his shoulders and spread his legs shamelessly.

“Mm, you think of me during the day?” Ben asked breathlessly, watching Hux’s pants unzip and fall to the floor. As Hux crawled onto the bed and settled over Ben, one of his hands leaned down to stroke reverently over Hux’s substantial bulge. “I think of this.”

“Is that all I am to you? A cock for you to fuck when you feel like it?” teased Hux with a smirk as he shed his underthings, leaning down to kiss Ben openly, happy to lick into his mouth and suck on his tongue for long minutes.

“Yes,” teased Ben, fingernails scratching down Hux’s back when he pulled back. “Now fuck me well, dear,” he murmured cheekily, and Hux laughed.

“As you wish,” he murmured, hoisting a leg over his hip.

Five years previously

Hux wasn’t in his bedchambers. He wasn’t in the library. He wasn’t in the courtyard at his favorite bench. After an hour of frantic looking, Ben decided that he might not even be on Naboo anymore.

“Ben, what happened?” Leia asked quietly, stroking her son’s hair as he sobbed into his bedding, her face tight with concern. She had never seen him so angry before, never heard such spiteful words fall from his mouth before. He only sobbed harder at her words, and she sighed, looking up to see Rey standing there looking very concerned.

“I’ve looked for Lieuten—General Hux, and I don’t think he’s in the Palace anymore,” Rey said very hesitantly, and Ben’s tearstained face appeared for a second before disappearing back into his arms as he cried harder, staining his silk without a second thought. He didn’t care. The best thing in his life, something he had never anticipated, was gone, and it was all his fault.

“Ben,” Leia prompted gently, and Ben lay still as he tried to contain himself. He waited quiet for a few minutes, breathing calmly as he felt his mother’s hand in his hair, releasing calming Alpha pheromones for her son.

“I thought he would miss me,” Ben said in a thick voice after long minutes of silence. Rey stepped back and left the room with a bow, leaving the two alone for their privacy. “I missed him, so I thought he would miss me too. But when you got back, he didn’t come find me…and suddenly _days_ later, he decides to finally come see me. And he announced that we would be married in a month and he had a new title upgrade, and I just got so _angry_.”

“Why?” asked Leia in a soft voice, and Ben chewed his bottom lip.

“Because it’s always the Omega that gets attached, that submits and wants a mate,” he said. “He clearly isn’t eager to form any attachment to me. And I hate that piece of myself. I wanted him to submit to me for once.”

“And you thought scaring him would be the answer,” Leia murmured, seeing an alarming amount of her and Han’s own temper in her son’s reflection. He nodded slowly, and she sighed. “Well, you certainly succeeded in scaring him.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Ben whispered shakily, and Leia seemed at a loss for words.

“I don’t know what will happen,” she said. “He may break off the agreement. And we will not force him to reconsider if he makes that proposition, Ben. If I find out you’ve Force-manipulated him.”

“I would never,” Ben said shakily, sitting up to wipe at his face gently. “I said all those things, but I would—would _never_ ,” he cut himself off with another sob, and Leia sighed.

“I’ll set up a meeting with him,” she said gently. “I’ll discuss it with him, and we’ll see what he would like to do.”

“Okay,” whispered Ben shakily. Leia kissed his forward gently.

“Sleep, baby,” she whispered. “You’ve had a terrible day. Sleep will lessen the blow tomorrow.”

“I’m at a loss,” Hux said honestly when he had sat down by Leia’s desk the next afternoon when formal greetings had been made. Poe sat beside him, and no one in the room knew Ben was hidden in the back corner behind the heavy bookshelves, unable to remain in the dark anymore.

“I’m so sorry we’ve put you in this predicament,” Leia said haltingly, and Hux waved off the apology, mind seeming to be too busy thinking to focus on trivial apologies and useless words.

“I spent last night composing a list of Alpha Generals who would make acceptable mates for the prince,” Hux said, pulling a list from his pocket. The slight tremble of his hand as he handed a paper to both Poe and Leia was silently noticed by both parties.

“Acceptable mates?” Leia questioned, exchanging a look with Poe, whose lips were drawn in a firm line, unhappy with the direction of the meeting.

“Yes,” Hux said factually. He seemed confused at Leia’s puzzlement. “Your Majesty, there is simply no outcome in which the prince and I could mate.”

“But the agreement,” Leia tried, feeling her little sliver of hope slowly shrivel and shrink. Hux nodded energetically and gestured to the lists.

“If we begin the process immediately and the prince finds the company of any of these Alphas acceptable, we can contact General Juju and make the necessary corrections within a few weeks if the prince does not object,” he said. 

“General Hux,” Leia started, setting the list down, and Hux swallowed.

“It will be Lieutenant Hux again soon enough,” he said, his expression flickering with an emotion Leia could not place as anything other than embarrassment. “And I know this seems fast, but the Prince chose me within days, so I think it is possible that he could find another to his liking if given time.”

“Hux,” Poe said quietly, and Hux stopped. And Poe could almost _smell_ his bitterness and hurt, sighing heavily. “Do you not think we should try again with the current agreement, just once more?”

“With respect, Poe, the prince is _repulsed_ by me,” Hux said, and he swallowed when his voice came out a little thicker than normal. He looked away quickly, back to the list in his hands, and Leia felt his pain. “We are not meant to be mates, clearly. I would not wish for the Prince to be forced into an unhappy mating. If I had—had known, I would have backed out of the agreement far sooner,” he said haltingly, still looking down at his lap.

“Will you not talk to him?” asked Leia, feeling tears itch at the back of her eyes. She hated the expression on Hux’s face, the way his words seemed so self-loathing.

“Forgive me for my cowardice,” Hux said with a forced smile, “but I think I could not.” He swallowed and finally looked up again, smile tight and uncomfortable on his face. “I could not bear to take another’s freedom, to violate the prince’s born rights in such a way. I am…ashamed for my actions these past weeks.”

“You should not be ashamed,” Poe said, his voice quiet and calming. He nodded to the list. “We will respect your wishes and will begin looking at this list immediately.”

“Thank you,” Hux responded. “I request permission for me and my guard to leave Naboo in the morning if that is acceptable, Your Majesty,” he asked, and Leia nodded after a brief hesitation, wanting to say so much but knowing it was not her place.

“Yes, of course,” she said. “You are an honorable man, Lieutenant Hux.”

“There is no honor in cowardice,” Hux said tightly, standing and bowing. “Good day.”

Ben sank to the floor after all parties had left the library. In the emptiness of the space, he sank down in his hidden corner, pressed a hand to his mouth tightly, and sobbed for the mess he had caused.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Phasma asked hesitantly as she watched Hux pack his things.

“When we first got here, you said you’d heard rumors of Ben,” Hux said, his hands shaking as he packed another shirt. He glanced at her. “Of his powers.”

“Yes,” Phasma said. “You never asked.”

“I’m asking now,” Hux said, and Phasma sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“I just heard rumors, Hux,” she said. “Just vague descriptions.”

“Phasma, stop protecting my feelings,” Hux said, slamming a drawer shut. “Please,” he added quietly after taking a calming breath.

“He has some secret connection with…I don’t know, the universe or something,” Phasma said exasperatedly. “Everyone is his family has this power evidently.”

“And with it, he can kill people?” Hux asked, and Phasma’s shoulders shrugged, hands spread in defeat.

“I don’t know!” she said. “I heard a rumor of the late Queen Amidala’s husband choking a man at the dinner table for flirting with the Queen.”

“And that’s related?” Hux asked frustratedly, and Phasma blinked at him with a blank expression.

“He didn’t touch the man once,” she said, and Hux paused. _I could strangle you with a look, without even putting a finger against you_ , that’s what Ben had said.

“I wish I’d asked you sooner,” Hux said, running a hand over his tired face. “We leave at first light. Say your goodbyes to that handmaiden you’ve been eyeing.”

“Surprisingly, I find myself ready to leave this place right now,” Phasma said dryly. “Can’t we just leave now?”

“We can’t make it look like we’re running,” Hux said, and Phasma watched him sink on the couch tiredly.

“We are though,” she said honestly, but Hux wasn’t listening, shaking his head.

“You should have heard him, Phasma,” he said, and Phasma sank down to crouch in front of him, touching his knee gently. “He spoke of me with such hatred, such loathing. In his eyes, I take his station and freedom…and I suppose I can’t blame him for hating me for that.”

“No,” Phasma said firmly, shaking her head and forcing his gaze back on her. “You have been nothing but kind and patient to him, and he has treated you with nothing but impulsive anger and thoughtless cruelty. He does not deserve you, Hux.”

“Do you know, I think I loved him,” Hux admitted, his laugh stiff and shaky. “I haven’t loved someone in a long time.”

“You deserve so much more than a spoiled child,” Phasma said, and Hux’s hurt eyes wounded her. He forced a smile and patted the hand on his knee.

“You are a good friend,” he said. “I’d best finish packing,” he added. Phasma nodded and stood.

“I’ll go do the same,” she said. She paused. “Or should I stand guard for you?”

“His Highness could kill us both without a thought, so you may as well go pack and get some sleep,” Hux’s blank voice echoed in the uncomfortable room. “But I think he will let us leave without killing us.”

“I hate this,” Phasma muttered, leaving the room with the shake of her head. Inside, Hux let his cheeks dampen with tears for just a minute before he wiped his face clean, forced his emotions back into the tight jar he’d always kept them in, and focused on removing any bit of his life he’d let slip lose within the confinements of the walls in his room.

Ben knocked on the door, and he heard movement still inside as if Hux was pretending he wasn’t there. He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed away the desire to vomit, knocking again. He could hear Hux’s thoughts—slight trepidation about the event, annoyance at himself for being fearful, some hope that it was just Phasma. The door opened, and Ben stared into Hux’s eyes, taking in the way his face shuttered closed of any emotion. Ben tried to be respectful, so he stopped reading Hux’s thoughts, a habit he hadn’t realized he even started.

“May I come in?” he asked very quietly, and Hux hesitated for a long time. “Please,” he asked, and Hux nodded, stepping back and moving away. Ben hated how he never once turned away from Ben, as if afraid to show his back.

“Your Highness, what can I do for you?” asked Hux, careful to use formalities. He even bowed respectfully, and Ben wanted to cry.

“I wanted to apologize,” Ben said, and nothing changed in Hux’s expression.

“There is no need to apologize, Your Highness,” Hux said stiffly. And then he was silent. And the silence was awkward and awful. Ben tried again.

“Hux, I—I don’t know what to say,” Ben struggled, his Omega whining in his chest, and Hux didn’t move, not even an inch.

“There was no need for you to worry yourself by coming to discuss the issue, Your Highness,” Hux said. “I trust Her Majesty gave you the list of potential candidates.”

“Hux, I don’t want those Alphas,” Ben latched on the opening, and Hux shut it down.

“I will make a new list for you right away,” his response came instantly. “Would you prefer me to add Omega and Beta sub-genders, Your Highness? I can easily make that adjustment.”

“I don’t want a damn list,” Ben said fervently, feeling tears slip down his cheeks. He wiped them away, furious at himself. “I want you, Hux. I want you.”

Hux’s expression showed disgust for a blink before the blank mask came back up.

“You needn’t feel pressured by anyone to keep the agreement, Your Highness,” Hux said, stepping backwards. “Whoever pressured you should not have done so.”

“Please let me explain,” Ben whispered, and he watched Hux resign himself, always so selfless.

“Of course,” Hux said, “please do as you wish.”

“My family has always possessed a special gift,” Ben tried to explain, wiping the tears that spilled down his cheeks away with shaky hands. “It’s called the Force. It’s like…like the cohesive energy of the universe which governs all life force. Do you understand?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” came the instant response, and Ben’s hopes had long ago disappeared, but he continued on steadily.

“When used for good, it is very powerful,” he said. “I can read thoughts, find peace with my surroundings—my uncle always took great delight in doing party tricks for people we were trying to impress.”

“Like the door shutting,” Hux said blankly, and Ben nodded.

“Like the—the door,” he said, swallowing the clear the lump in his throat. “But some of us have difficulty just using it for good things. My grandfather is a famous example, and as you already know, I have a terrible temper, Hux.” He inhaled shakily. “And I said all those things to you in anger, Hux, but I didn’t mean _any_ of them, I swear I didn’t, Hux. Tell me you believe me, please.”

“I am sure you didn’t mean any of your death threats, Your Highness,” Hux responded like an automaton. Ben cried harder, moving to sit on the couch.

“There is nothing I can do to convince you to keep me, is there,” Ben asked, resolved that he had ruined all chances.

“How could you expect me to just—” Hux started, cheeks flushed with anger, but he stopped himself. “My apologies, Your Highness,” he said, but Ben shook his head, leaning forward on the couch.

“No, no, show an emotion, Hux, _please_ , any emotion! Be mad at me, yell at me,” he begged, and Hux stared at him.

“And this is what you want?” he asked, disgust on his face, and Ben waited, sniffing. “For us to mate and hurt each other like this? Over and over again, lashing out with tempers neither one of us can control very well, only to come crying back to each other? This isn’t a partnership, Ben. But tell me honestly, you didn’t think it was a partnership before, did you? You thought I was just some idiot trying to take over your power, trying to make you some kind of Omega trophy.”

“I didn’t,” Ben sobbed, “I don’t, I swear.”

“You said so yourself!” Hux yelled, waving his arms around. He heard movement outside the door and found it ironic that Rey would be standing guard outside. Would she protect him if Ben tried to kill him? Or perhaps she would help Ben hide his body.

“I didn’t mean any of it,” Ben said. “I just got so angry, Hux, and I wanted to hurt you.”

“Well, you succeeded,” Hux snapped, and the room was silent save Ben’s heart-wrenching sobs. “You’re right, I _am_ nothing. I am nothing but a First Order minion sent here to strike a deal. And I met you, you beautiful goddess, and you stole my heart. And you’ve returned it to me, and it’s painful, but I can accept your decision.” Ben sobbed heavier, hands covering his face, and Hux didn’t know what to do. “I don’t know why you’re here, Ben. But you shouldn’t be.” He paused. “Why are you here, Ben?”

“Because I love you,” Ben sobbed, and Hux huffed.

“Excuse me if I don’t believe you,” he said, and Ben tried to keep in the sobs, wiping his face frantically again.

“I do, Hux,” he said in a watery voice, a tired voice. “And I’m a fool for saying those things to you, but if you give me one more chance, I’ll spend every breath I have trying to convince you that I love you, that I would _never_ hurt you.”

“And when you have one of your rages?” Hux asked spitefully, his hurt radiating in his chest. “If we have an argument, will you choke me to death with your Force? If our child does something wrong, will you slam them against a wall or snap their neck with your Force?”

“No, no, no,” Ben said frantically, feeling bile rise in his throat. He gagged, and he stood, running to the fresher to vomit. The _thought_ …

Hux sighed and wiped his face tiredly, walking to the door as he listen to Ben gag in the adjoining room. He opened the door to see Phasma and Rey standing beside each other with identically fearful expressions on their faces.

“We won’t require your services tonight,” he murmured. “The prince is very upset, I’ll calm him down and make sure he gets back to his room.”

“He’s an idiot,” Rey said firmly, “but he loves you, Hux. He does.”

“Good night,” Hux said simply, shutting the door again. Rey glanced at Phasma, who shook her head warningly.

“He isn’t ready to hear that yet,” she said. “Come on, let’s give them some privacy to work it out.”

Ben was sobbing in the fresher, curled up on the cold tile flooring, when he suddenly realized a wet towel was dangling in front of his face.

“Wash your face and rinse your mouth,” Hux said simply. “It’s not good for your teeth.”

Ben accepted the rag and obeyed the Alpha shakily. When he was finished, Hux took the rag back and turned to leave the room.

“Don’t lie on the floor in there, you’ll become chilled dressed like that,” his emotionless voice called over his shoulder, and Ben obeyed again, walking back out to see Hux sitting on the couch with his data pad, ignoring him completely. Ben approached the couch and knelt down beside Hux, laying his tired head right beside Hux’s lap on the settee, his shoulders and chest just brushing Hux’s legs. Hux stiffened at the oddly submissive position.

“What are you doing?” Hux asked sharply, and Ben sniffed.

“My Omega wants to comfort you,” he tried to explain, and Hux huffed, returning to his data pad.

“You’ll get a stiff neck curled over the settee like that,” he muttered, and Ben merely blinked, feeling relief that Hux didn’t refuse him this. If they were mates, he would have knelt and placed his head in Hux’s lap. Maybe the Alpha would have stroked his neck and the exposed slope of his cheek. Maybe he could have unbuttoned his pants and let Ben show his love for his Alpha in a more physical way. But none of that was possible because Ben was half-convinced that Hux hated him now. And because he was so loyal, so honest and _kind_ , he would not back out of the agreement and he would mate Ben with no emotions but disgust and hatred, and Ben would never be able to convince him that he loved him.

And with that thought, Ben fell into a dark sleep.

Hux waited twenty minutes, until the thin frame of Ben’s shoulders showed steady, consistent breaths. Then he set the data pad aside and dared to run his fingertips through Ben’s hair, loving the soft, thick feel against his fingers. He then moved his hands to Ben’s face, the smooth expanse of his temple and down a cheek, over birthmarks and moles normally covered by his painted face. He was beautiful, and despite the hurt that still jarred Hux’s chest, he felt warm love fill him again, just a little.

“I am a fool,” Hux muttered self-deprecatingly before he carefully pulled the thin Omega into his arms and gently transferred him to his bed. Ben mumbled in his sleep and adjusted to bury his face in Hux’s pillow, inhaling the Alpha’s scent. Hux found it intriguing how Ben’s entire body seemed to relax as he inhaled his scent. He shook his head and returned to the couch, lying down and turning off the light carefully. He was a fool in love.

Present

Ben adjusted his skirt and swallowed nervously as he met Poe’s gaze. They waited for Lord Snoke’s arrival.

“You can still back out of this,” Hux murmured as he moved behind Ben’s chair on his way to sit down beside his mate, his warm fingertips brushing against Ben’s exposed neck gently.

“No, this needs to be done, and I can do it,” Ben said with a firm nod. Hux frowned and opened his mouth to argue, but he was interrupted by the knock on the door before Lord Snoke swept into the room.

Hux was a tall man—the tallest man Ben had ever seen before, and yet Snoke stood several inches taller. He was thin—gaunt almost—and unusually pale, and Ben’s learned nonchalance about his odd features dimmed as he realized that this man had tried to _kill_ him.

“Your Majesty,” Snoke said in greeting, kissing Ben’s hand formally and bowing to Hux and Poe before sitting at the table. “I heard about the accident, and I must say, you look just as radiant as ever.”

“Thank you, Lord Snoke,” Ben said softly, feeling Hux’s unease filtering through their bond link. “I am very lucky for my husband’s quick thinking, else I would not be alive today.”

“General Hux, you prove your true colours once again,” Snoke purred with a warm smile at Hux, his hands resting gently, easily, against the tabletop. “And I hear congratulations are in order for you both? Leia would be very proud.”

“The Queen’s Mother didn’t like children,” Poe interrupted, face dark as he stared at Snoke, who visibly paused at the words.

“No, that’s true,” Snoke responded hesitantly. “But she loved the Queen very much, I know. She would have loved your children, Ben,” he added, dropping formalities. Ben forced a soft smile and let Poe start a conversation about Snoke’s own political endeavors as he mentally steeled himself for what he was about to do. His part of the plan was risky after all. He needed to dig around in Snoke’s head, read his thoughts and sift through his memories, all with stealth and privacy so Snoke did not suspect he was there.

Holding Hux’s hand tightly, he began. _Snoke hated Poe, wanted to see his brain matter splattered across the table. He thought Hux was weak, thought the man didn’t deserve his station—_ Ben saw through Snoke’s eyes how Hux had stolen a seat in the Royal family, a _seat Snoke felt he deserved_ …

Ben swallowed thickly when he realized Snoke’s intentions.

And suddenly, Snoke’s watery eyes snapped to Ben, and the ruse was ended.

“What is the meaning of this?” he barked, standing in outrage, and Hux and Poe followed suit. “You try to use your Force on me? To abuse my privacy and read my thoughts? What is the meaning of this treachery?”

“Cut the act, Snoke,” Hux sneered. “We know it was you who tried to kill Ben. We know you blackmailed the servant into lacing his gown with poison. All we don’t know is why.”

“You wished I had chosen you instead of Hux as my husband,” Ben said softly, voice just above a whisper as he pieced together the foggy images he’d gotten from Snoke’s memory. And the room stilled. “That I had forsaken the agreement with the First Order and chosen you to be my Alpha.” The bond twanged, Hux angry at the very thought, but Ben continued. “And you knew that I was pregnant somehow, didn’t you?”

“I had my suspicions when I last saw you at the General Council Meeting,” Snoke admitted, seeming to accept defeat. Hux stepped away from the table, restless in his anger, and Ben wished he didn’t move away from him.

“What did you hope to accomplish?” Poe asked sharply, already ringing for the guards outside the door. They entered immediately, led by a stalking Phasma.

“If I could not have you, no one should,” Snoke said with a shrug. He gazed at Ben as if entranced. “You are…so beautiful,” he whispered, and Ben felt dirty. As Phasma reached Snoke and began to bind his wrists, Snoke’s attention turned to Hux, and he snarled, face angry and ugly. He wrenched free of Phasma’s grip, and Ben watched in shock as the events played out.

The cool metal of Snoke’s blaster glinted in the air, his face overcome with ugly rage. Phasma reached out frantically, trying to contain him. Poe made a move to jump over the table and rip the gun from his hands. And Hux did nothing but watch impassively as Snoke aimed at Hux’s chest and fired.

Ben cried out, hands outstretched, and time stopped as the Force exploded from Ben’s very being. The blaster shot seemed to disintegrate mid-air, everyone and everything went flying across the room, and then time resumed itself. In an instant, Phasma was on her feet, and she didn’t hesitate as she aimed for Snoke and shot.

Ben collapsed on the floor by Hux’s body and screamed his name, clutching his jacket as he checked for wounds.

"Ben, I’m alright,” Hux murmured, but Ben couldn’t stop sobbing as he pressed his face to Hux’s chest. Hux sat up, wincing as he felt the back of his head where he’d been thrown into the wall, and he gathered his mate into his arms as he let Ben release his stress and fears into tear stains on his shirt.

“Is he okay?” murmured Poe as he crouched beside the pair, and Hux nodded as he felt Ben’s shoulders shake as he sobbed.

“I think he will be,” he said. “Thank you,” he murmured tiredly, and Poe nodded, rubbing Hux’s shoulder in comfort before standing to assist Phasma and her guards.

“You had quite the fright today,” murmured Hux as he washed Ben’s back gently that night, taking his time to massage the smooth, tanned skin. Ben was leaned forward in the tub to give his mate access, and he kept his face turned away from Hux as he was bathed lovingly. He had been quiet since the meeting, and he had only stopped shaking at dinner when Han had taken him aside and murmured something privately to him. Hux respected Ben enough not to ask what had been said, but he did wonder. “Hopefully after this, you can sleep some,” he continued to say in a quiet, relaxed voice, remembering the medical droid’s advice to keep Ben and the baby as relaxed as possible. He finished cleaning Ben’s back and set the cloth aside as he waited for Ben’s next move.

Ben didn’t move, not for long, silent minutes. When he did, he was silent, standing and allowing his mate to swing him out of the tub and into a fluffy white towel. Hux dismissed Rose with a whispered goodnight as he set a naked Ben on the side ledge of the tub and began to towel down his legs, moving up his body gently. Ben was still silent when Hux rubbed smoothing oils into his skin, when he brushed out his wet hair, when he carried him into their adjoining bedchambers and laid his naked body onto the bed. When Hux pulled back to finish his tasks, Ben let him, watching with dark emotional eyes as his mate moved around their room, undressing and preparing for bed himself.

Hux returned and sighed when he saw the goosebumps along Ben’s skin, hurrying to slide the comforters up around his body. When he slid into bed beside the Omega, Ben turned and gripped Hux’s hand, bringing it down his body under the covers to find his bare skin, the damp folds of his sex there. And Hux sighed, pulling his hand away.

“I won’t bed you when you cannot consent,” he murmured tiredly, moving his hand up to stroke Ben’s face lovingly. “And you do not know what you want right now. Sleep, my love. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Ben was shaky, silent, as he felt Hux breathe deeply for long minutes before falling asleep. And still Ben lay still, staring at the ceiling in the darkness. And he did not sleep.

Five years previously

The days following Ben’s apology were remarkably tense. Hux spent most of his days with Leia and Poe, beginning to understand what would be expected of him after the marriage ceremony. Ben spent most of his days nodding in agreement to whatever the wedding planners suggested, staring out a window and missing Hux. And neither spoke to each other more than a few words.

“Don’t you think you should maybe speak to him?” Phasma suggested to Ben at one point, halting and uncomfortable. She still didn’t like Ben, didn’t like the way the boy treated her closest friend, but she also didn’t like their strange tenseness.

“I already apologized,” Ben said, worrying his bottom lip and radiating stress pheromones. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Look, kid,” Phasma said, and Ben blinked, not used to such obvious disrespect for his title. “If you really want this marriage—and more important, this mating bond—to work, you need to up your game. Hux, for some ridiculous reason, likes you. He likes the spunk and the attitude and the chaos that you bring to his life. But he’s hurting right now. And only _you_ can fix that. So go grovel a bit more, flaunt your pretty little neck a little, I don’t know…flirt or something. Because if you don’t fix this, then your marriage is already doomed.”

“That seems like solid advice,” Ben said tightly after a few seconds of thoughtful silence. Somehow, the thought of approaching Hux again was frightening to him, but he swallowed thickly. It needed to be done.

“I can’t help but notice that things are not back to normal,” Leia said casually when the meetings ended for the day. They were alone, Hux having offered to escort her to the dining room for supper, and Leia found that she rather enjoyed their quiet conversations away from prying ears. Hux was an enigma to her, but a pleasing one. He would be a good addition to their chaotic family.

“I don’t think things ever truly will be,” Hux admitted honestly after a few moments of silence. Leia turned to him with a frown.

“Ben apologized, didn’t he?” she asked worriedly, and Hux nodded.

“Yes, of course,” he said. His smile was tight. “All is well.”

“All is not well,” Leia said firmly. “You walk around as though dead, and Ben stares at you as if you are punishing him.”

“I can assure you, I am not punishing him,” Hux said stiffly, and Leia sighed.

“I know that things may have…changed…a little with everything that happened,” she said quietly, and Hux laughed, humorless and brittle.

“Just a little, Your Majesty,” he said, and his tone was self-deprecating, as it had been for several days now. Leia suppressed her sigh and stopped to look at Hux seriously.

“Maybe you should talk again, now that emotions have cooled,” she said. “I know my son, Hux, and he is hurting just as much as you. Talk to each other—in two weeks’ time, you will be mates. And this hurt between you will not forge a healthy bond.”

“Tonight,” Hux promised. “I’ll talk to him tonight.”

Not tonight, Hux decided, when he was let into Ben’s living quarters by a slightly surprised Rey to find Ben sitting on a settee drinking a glass of something strong, dressed in white silk that clung to his frame in an indecent way. He blinked up at Hux, clearly surprised to see him, and Hux wanted to bury his hands in that long thick hair and kiss those lips—red-stained by the wine—until the Omega was whining beneath him. He blinked the thought away, quickly, and cleared his throat.

“You’re clearly busy,” he said stiffly, already stepping back. “I’m sorry for intruding.” He slammed right into Rey, who had reappeared with another glass of wine, and she ushered him forward to take a seat opposite Ben, setting the glass on the table beside him.

“I’m not busy,” Ben said, voice warm and soft. He looked meek almost, and Hux found it to be a most unusual look for him. He leaned forward and sipped from the glass quickly, feeling uncomfortable. “Phasma spoke to me,” Ben said after some consideration, and he saw how Hux stiffened.

“Dear God,” he muttered. “I hope she wasn’t inappropriate…?”

“No, not at all,” Ben murmured with a quick tilt of his lips. He leaned forward to set the glass down and then stood, moving to sit beside Hux. After a moment of hesitation, he reached out and gently took one of Hux’s hands in his, playing with the long fingers and broad palm, the hand of an Alpha. “I want to say something, and I want you to listen to me before you get angry,” he said meekly. Hux laughed and sat back on the settee to get comfortable, but Ben found secret pleasure that he did not pull his hand away.

“Alright,” Hux said with a shrug. “What do you want to say?”

“I know that,” Ben swallowed, “you are fulfilling this contract because you are loyal.” He laughed, a hurt sound that almost sounded like a sob. “The most loyal man I’ve ever met actually. And if not for the agreement and your promise to my mother, you would be halfway across the galaxy by now without a second thought.” He didn’t look up from the hand he stroked gently, and he cursed himself when the hand seemed to swim out of focus from his tears. “I was awful to you, I know. And I can never take what I said or did back. But I wonder if—if you might at least pretend to have some affection for me? Just for the bond? Because I don’t think I could—could bear it if—” he broke off, and he released the hand immediately when Hux moved to pull away.

But the hand reappeared, wiping tears from his cheeks gently as he shushed Ben in a soft tone and pulled the Omega closer to him. A hand on his neck, a tilt of his face, and Hux scented his neck gently, intimately, releasing calming pheromones that had Ben shaking and gasping against Hux’s solid form. Ben could feel Rey moving out of the room gently, waving for the other two handmaidens to leave as well, and then Ben’s mind and soul was filled only with _Hux_ as the Alpha mouthed at the place where their bond bite would lie.

“Ben,” murmured Hux softly, and Ben gasped at the intimacy of their position, burying his hot face in Hux’s shoulder and inhaling deeply the scent he had come to associate with his future mate. “Oh Ben, you foolish little Omega,” he grumbled, and he pulled back to force Ben’s gaze on his. “I’m here because I _love you_. Yes, what happened was unfortunate, and I was uncomfortable and upset. And I was hurt. But while I may have initially agreed to this because of the contract, I am still sitting here despite all our drama because I want you as my mate. And I’m willing to put up with explosive arguments and slamming doors and this Force nonsense because I want _you_.”

“Hux,” Ben said, voice watery and tired, and Hux chuckled as he pulled Ben fully into his arms, bringing the lithe figure into his body and holding him tight against his chest.

“You love me,” Hux said, not a question, and Ben nodded frantically.

“Desperately. Yes, I do,” he said, fingers clutching the back of Hux’s jacket, and Hux hummed as he focused on Ben’s lips, leaning in and kissing them passionately. Ben let himself be pulled forward as Hux lay back on the settee, and the two lay together as their mouths and tongues moved against each other for long, steamy minutes. When they finally parted, Ben licked his lips nervously.

“Are you…sure?” he asked, just once more, and Hux rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“Look into my thoughts,” he said. “And know once and for all that I do not lie to you.”

The minutes after were silent as Ben stared at him with eyes unseeing, and Hux waited patiently, feeling Ben flickering through his thoughts. It was strangely intimate, more so than anything Hux had done with another person before, but he didn’t mind it. He wanted the honesty, craving it after learning of Ben’s secret. And finally, after long minutes of intensity, Ben’s eyes focused on Hux, and he smiled beautifully.

“See?” murmured Hux with a smile, and Ben hummed as he leaned into kiss Hux happily, moving the Alpha’s large hands to cradle his waist gently.

“Yes,” he murmured against Hux’s mouth, enjoying the way his lips tingled and swelled from Hux’s kisses. He paused before smiling cheekily at Hux, cheeks flushed and rosy. “You think I look beautiful in this dress.”

“Did you look in a mirror?” Hux grumbled, and Ben laughed in delight, laying his head on Hux’s chest and humming in contentment, enjoying the silence beside his soon-to-be mate.

“You are welcome to take this dress off anytime you wish,” he said honestly, and Hux released a breath he didn’t know he’d taken.

“Soon enough,” he murmured. “Soon enough.”

Present

“Something is wrong with Ben,” Rey said briskly as she was announced in Hux’s office, walking in to see the redhead bent over official documents, scribbling frantically with pen and ink. Hux looked up, face drawn in concentration, but the sound of his husband’s name distracted him enough.

“What do you mean?” he asked sharply, standing. “Is he sick? Where is he?”

“No,” Rey said with a shake of her head, moving to flop into a chair opposite Hux. Even dressed in her golden-orange finery, she moved without much elegance or grace. Being with Phasma had clearly not helped either. “Physically, he is well. But surely you notice how he acts quiet and withdrawn, even with you.”

“The episode with Snoke upset him greatly, more than I thought it would,” Hux said. “Han is spending time with him in hopes of bringing him out of this mood.”

“It’s not working,” Rey said dryly, and Hux sighed, rubbing his face. Rey felt rather bad for him. It had been eight weeks since Snoke had attempted to kill Hux, eight weeks since Ben had seen Snoke shot in the chest twice, since he’d become an emotional wreck of nerves and silence and _coldness_. At night, he lay in bed like a statue, and no words or actions could persuade Ben to curl into Hux’s side as he always did. In those eight weeks, Hux had bore the brunt of Ben’s assignments as Queen as well, on top of his own workload. The man worked endlessly and still the assignments stacked up.

“You need to spend time with your mate,” Rey said. She waved at the papers on the desk. “Let Poe do this, and Han will help too.” Hux paused, seeming to consider it, and Rey sighed, leaning forward.

“Ben has never seen anyone die,” she said quietly. “If Ben had been present when Leia fell ill and passed, he might not be like this,” she said. She shrugged at Hux’s release of breath. “Honestly, we should all be thankful that Ben was off-planet for political meetings.”

“Indeed,” Hux muttered, remembering the way Ben shut down when Leia had passed away as well.

“He saw Snoke die right before his eyes, and he thought he lost you for a few minutes there too,” Rey said. Her voice was quiet, patient. “He’s hurting, and you need to spend time reconnecting the bond.”

“I’ll send for Poe,” Hux decided in a tired voice, and Rey sat back to smile warmly. The door opened, and Poe slipped inside with a sheepish smile.

“Maybe she already sent for me,” he said. “Go be with your mate, friend,” he said, and Hux laughed as he stood, pausing to squeeze Poe’s shoulder in silent thanks as he left.

“I thought I’d find you here,” murmured Hux when he approached his husband quietly. Ben looked up from his position, sitting on a blanket in the field of green grass and wildflowers, and Hux sighed. He wasn’t used to this new listless Ben whose eyes looked empty and whose bond didn’t sing with happiness when he saw Hux.

“I thought you had meetings today,” murmured Ben quietly, looking down to pluck at the flower in his lap, and Hux hummed as he sat down, stretching across the blanket to get comfortable. A glance and smile at the handmaidens sitting a small distance away had them gathering their things and moving away out of earshot, over near the trees.

“I did, but then I remembered that I had much more important things to do today,” Hux said, and Ben glanced up from his mangled flower for just a second.

“And what’s that?” he asked quietly, still so subdued, so un-Ben-like. Hux remained patient and quiet, resting his head on his hand as he watched his mate’s face.

“Like tell my husband how much I love him,” he said. “And how I’m so proud of his Force and how he saved me when Snoke tried to kill me. And how I look at him and I feel so _content_ and so loved and so excited for a future I never thought I’d have…because I didn’t know my life would turn out this way, Ben, but I’m so damn glad it did because I have you.”

“Why are you saying these things?” Ben asked quietly, a small smile playing at his lips, tears beginning to track down his bare face.

“Because I need you to know them,” Hux said. “And I don’t say them enough. I’ve watched you wander around in this daze for weeks, and I hate it. I want you to know that I love you, and I want my Ben back. But I don’t know how to help you. So how can I help you, my love?”

Ben sighed as he lay down beside Hux, moving as close to his body as the thick material of his dress would allow. He rested his head in the crook of Hux’s arm, nose pressed to his chest, and he stroked along the fabric of Hux’s back as he gathered his thoughts.

“In those seconds after Snoke fired at you, I thought you were dead,” he said quietly, and Hux hummed, bringing him even closer with a strong arm around his waist. “And my soul hurt, Hux. In that moment, I wasn’t sure that if you had been gone, I would survive without you.”

“Ben,” murmured Hux, stroking Ben’s wet cheek, and Ben sniffed, inhaling his scent for comfort before continuing.

“It scares me how much I love you sometimes,” Ben admitted. “I just…can’t imagine life without you, and those seconds where I thought you were gone? Hux, I lie awake at night and think about it.”

“I’m right here,” breathed Hux, moving down to kiss Ben’s forehead gently.

“I know,” Ben choked out, and he clutched at Hux tighter. “Don’t leave me alone, even for a few seconds.”

“I won’t,” Hux promised, and they lay together, tightly intwined, and Hux sighed. “I want to scent you now, and I can’t.”

“Why can’t you?” asked Ben with a laugh, leaning back to present his neck, and Hux shook his head.

“Not there,” he murmured. “Your whole body naked on my sheets, where I can scent all of you until you only smell like me anymore…that’s what I want.”

“I want that too,” whispered Ben with flushed cheeks, and Hux smelled his slick when he leaned in to kiss Ben’s mouth warmly.

“Tonight, I want to make love to you,” Hux said patiently. “And if you allow it, you aren’t leaving our bed until I say so, until you’re happy again.”

“I allow it,” Ben murmured happily, and the two settled against each other for comfort. In a few minutes, Ben’s breaths evened, and Hux cradled his body close as he let his mate sleep at last.

Five years previously

The wedding ceremony and mating bite went flawlessly, and Ben spent most of the day blushing madly every time Hux looked his way, the Alpha radiating love and warm affection with every glance. Leia had tried to awkwardly explain what mating was like, and Ben had stopped her gently, saying Hux would explain anything Ben did not already understand. The relief on Leia’s face had been obvious, and Ben had tried not to laugh too hard.

Han tried to glare at Hux, and Ben had his suspicions that he had tried to hate him. But Hux was simply not able to be hated, not by anyone with any heart or sense. He charmed his way into Han’s affections just as he had Leia’s and Ben’s, and within days of meeting, Ben noticed that Han appeared at more family functions than he ever had before, always talking to Hux about some interesting thing Hux good-naturedly put up with.

And now Ben sat with barely contained nervousness as Rey helped him take off his wedding headdress and brush out his hair, wipe his face clean of makeup and gold paint. His gown stays were loosened, and his garters unclipped, letting silky stockings slip down his thighs to relieve pinched skin underneath.

“Suppose I disappoint him?” questioned Ben worriedly as Rey brushed out his hair, laying it softly to frame his face. Rey shook her head immediately.

“Hux loves you,” she murmured reassuringly. “And you are beautiful. Nothing you do will disappoint him.”

“I’m inexperienced,” Ben chewed on his lower lip as he fastened the white silk bathrobe tighter around his waist, turning on his stool to face his bedchamber. He had spent most of the past few days preparing himself for this moment, but as he waited for Hux’s knock, he wasn’t sure if he was ready anymore.

“Hux knows that too,” Rey repeated patiently, and Ben sighed as he made to chew his nails. Rey pushed his hand away gently and bent down to reach his eye level, smiling warmly at her oldest friend. “If you’re really not ready, then _tell_ him. He won’t mind waiting, I know. He’s a true Alpha.”

“I’ve been begging him for months to take me, and now I would just say no thank you?” questioned Ben with a scowl. “I’m nervous, but I want him.”

“Just don’t feel pressured,” Rey said quietly, patting his knee. The knock on the door visibly startled Ben, and she stood to open the door, pausing to kiss Ben’s cheek softly. “Good luck,” she whispered and then opened the door, slipping past Hux into the hallway with a quiet goodnight. Rose followed quietly behind her, and as the door shut, the two mates were alone at last.

“You looked beautiful today,” Hux murmured in the quiet stillness of the room as he approached, sitting on the settee in order to give Ben any distance he might want.

“Gold is the traditional color of Naboo Omega,” Ben said, trying to hide the slight tremble in his voice, and Hux hummed, releasing calming pheromones without thought as he watched Ben slowly rise and cross the room towards him.

“The color becomes you,” he said before laughing, a light-hearted sound Ben wanted to hear constantly, for the rest of his life. “Though every color becomes you,” he added. Ben blushed as he moved to straddle Hux’s lap carefully, movements hesitant but graceful. Hux accepted his weight gladly, hands coming up to circle around Ben’s slender waist to support him.

“And this color?” Ben asked shyly, playing with the silky fabric of Hux’s ceremonial uniform. “Do you like what I’m wearing now?”

“You are a vision, as you always are,” murmured Hux, leaning forward to nose at Ben’s cheek affectionately. “You amaze me,” he said, lips brushing Ben’s skin as he moved to mouth at the arched curve of the Omega’s neck. When he began to suck a bruise into Ben’s tanned skin, he hummed when he heard Ben’s gasp and muffled moan. The smell of slick, honey mixed with wildflowers, filled the space around them, and Hux felt his mouth watering in response.

“And will you like it if I wear nothing?” Ben asked breathlessly after long minutes of basking in Hux’s affections, already wet and aching from just his new husband’s mouth on his skin.

“Hm, I think I shall,” Hux teased before pulling back. “Ben, there is no rush,” he murmured, and Ben laughed, holding Hux’s jaw lightly against both palms as he leaned in to kiss the frown from his lips.

“Everyone tells me this and yet how long have I begged you to take me?” he asked softly, stroking along Hux’s face lovingly. “I don’t know what to do, but I want it all,” he whispered, feeling his own cheeks flush at the revelation. “I want you to teach me.”

“I will teach you, and you will teach me,” Hux responded, voice gravely, and the words seemed to rumble Ben’s core as he leaned back and found the ties of his robe. Just a flick of the wrist, and the silk slipped off his shoulders, pooling at his waist and exposing silky skin to Hux’s hungry gaze.

“You are so beautiful,” murmured Hux, fingertips stroking down every bump of his vertebra. When his fingers found the dimples at the bottom of Ben’s back, Ben leaned back in and kissed him again, happy to bask in his new husband’s affection. Hux’s hands found the curve of his ass, palming the tanned skin there gently, fingertips brushing along smooth soft skin of his thighs before moving up to tangle in Ben’s hair. Their kiss deepened, dirtied by Hux’s tongue in the Omega’s mouth, and Ben moaned, the sound loud in a room quickly growing humid.

“Let’s go to bed,” Hux whispered against his mouth, and Ben pulled back to consider his words as he smoothed long fingers down Hux’s chest.

“One day, you’ll fuck me on this settee,” he said, words coarse to match his sly smile, and he loved the way Hux’s mouth parted in thrilled delight.

“Yes,” murmured Hux after a minute. “But tonight, we take our time.”

“Okay,” whispered Ben, leaning in for one last kiss before he stood and walked to the bed, content in his nakedness, accidentally reading Hux’s thoughts. He blushed as Hux stared at his ass as he walked to the bed, surprised to see that the place where his thigh and cheek met held a special interest for his Alpha. He climbed on the bed and turned back around to face his mate, perching himself up onto his knees to meet Hux’s gaze.

“Well?” he asked, shyness erupting in a blush along his neck and chest at the dark of Hux’s gaze. “Are you going to touch me, or shall I touch myself?”

“One day, I’ll watch you do just that,” Hux responded, standing and following Ben across the room. “You are so beautiful.”

“Take your clothes off,” Ben whined, crawling to the edge of the bed and kneeling there to unbutton Hux’s shirt as quickly as he could, fingers trembling in his nervousness. Hux’s hands, strong and reassuring, enveloped Ben’s completely, and he helped his mate as best he could.

“Lay back,” he said after his shirt was set aside carefully, and Ben obeyed, still staring at Hux as the Alpha unbuckled his pants and pulled down. He could feel himself getting wet, his skin throbbing for attention, and when he caught sight of Hux’s cock between his legs, he moaned loudly.

“I don’t want to sound pretentious, but you know what is about to happen, right?” asked Hux gently, holding an ankle in his hand and bringing the entire leg up to kiss the arch of Ben’s foot.

“You’ll fuck me until I’m speechless like a good Alpha, and you’ll knot me, and then you bite my neck, and I bite yours,” Ben relayed the information he’d gathered in blunt factualness. Hux’s lips trailed to the inner arch of his foot and then began slowly slinking up his ankle towards his knee, kissing and licking and occasionally nipping the smooth skin he found there.

“And when we mate,” prompted Hux gently as he paused to pay special attention to Ben’s knee, positioning it first one way and then the other, loving and worshipful in his touch.

“Then we will never be apart as long as we live,” Ben released in one breath, clutching the bedding just above his head as Hux started kissing up the sensitive skin of his inner thigh, spreading his leg in order to have better access. The position exposed Ben in a way he never had been for anyone in his whole life, and the thought brought a deep blush and a new wave of honeyed slick.

“Never,” Hux said, his mouth stopping just before where Ben most wanted him, and he crawled onto the bed completely to hover over Ben’s face, kissing him gently. “We will be two halves of the same whole.”

“I love you,” whispered Ben, and Hux smiled, moving back and gripping the other leg with the same tender touch, beginning to bestow the same attention and affection to the skin there as well. “Hux, please touch me,” Ben begged, and Hux hummed, taking longer to bite gently into the skin of his knee, taking his time to lick and taste his skin.

“I have wanted you for so long,” Hux said as he finished with the leg and moved to his chest, kissing his way along the tanned, smooth skin of his abdomen and up towards his face. “Let me love you completely.” He swirled his tongue around a nipple before sucking on it gently, and Ben sobbed at the feeling of wet suction. He was clearly sensitive, and he keened, back arching in pleasure, as he accepted the sensory overload Hux gave him.

“Yes, I want that,” he begged. “I want your knot,” he gasped to the ceiling as the redhead moved to the other nipple. He moved his hands to rake through Hux’s hair, craving the intimacy of touching Hux at last, and he panted when his nipples were finally released, and his mouth was once more occupied by Hux’s.

And then Hux was gone, moving away from Ben, who whimpered desperately and reached out for his mate, frantic.

“Ben, before we start,” Hux said quietly, voice deep, and Ben whined loudly, knowing he was being bratty but not caring. “We need to talk about something important,” Hux said, and Ben stilled at the serious flash that crossed Hux’s expression.

“What?” he asked quietly, and he could feel Hux’s hesitation.

“There are certain…measures…we might want to take,” Hux said, and Ben’s expression didn’t waver.

“Take for what?” he asked, and Hux seemed uncomfortable.

“To make sure that nothing…viable came from tonight,” he said, and suddenly Ben understood. And he felt a little panicked.

“Do you not want a baby with me?” he asked, and Hux shook his head immediately, hand finding Ben’s flat stomach immediately.

“That’s now what I’m saying!” he said firmly. “But you have an option, Ben. You have a choice, and it’s yours alone.”

“Is there a chance? That something would come of us being together?” asked Ben, and Hux nodded.

“There’s always a chance,” he explained gently, and Ben was still as he considered.

“Then let’s live our lives, and if something happens, then our family will simply grow a little bigger,” Ben murmured, and he paused. “Are you okay with that?”

“Of course, my love,” Hux said, leaning in to nuzzle Ben’s chest.

“Good,” Ben breathed, spreading his own legs and enjoying how Hux naturally settled between them. “Now please let’s stop talking so you can mate me.”

“You cheeky Omega,” murmured Hux, and he bent down between Ben’s spread thighs to nose against the soft, smooth folds there. His skin was glistening with slick that smelled of honey, and Hux’s mouth watered at the sight as he used his thumbs to part the folds gently and expose his sweet center. A little clit, already throbbing and exposed from its hood, awaited his attention, and he leaned down to rub his lips against it gently a few times before kissing it.

“Hux,” Ben’s call of his name sounded strangled.

The Alpha used his tongue to flick at the little nerve, enjoying the way Ben’s thigh muscles clenched and moved beneath his hands, and then he sucked on it gently, loving the loud moan that filled their bedroom at his touch. Ben was so responsive, and he tasted unlike anything Hux had experienced before. Ben played with the clit, circling it fully with his tongue a few times before moving down to tease his winking hole as slick glistened and gathered there. He enjoyed the variety of sounds coming from his mate’s mouth with the various tongue tricks he used.

The scratch of Hux’s beard forming at day’s end chafed against Ben’s sensitive skin, but he already loved everything his mate did as he propped himself up on his elbows to watch. Hux played with him with an attentiveness Ben had never experienced before, and the look of blue eyes blackened by lust watching his expression as he suckled his skin had Ben trembling.

“It’s too much,” Ben whispered, head falling back between his shoulder blades as he panted at the ceiling again, eyes falling shut, mouth hung open in a loud moan as a tongue wiggled inside him, greedily sucking slick. “Alpha,” Ben whined in a low pitch, and a finger slid inside beside Hux’s tongue. He keened, loudly, not caring that anyone walking down the hallway outside would know exactly what was going on in the room. The finger stroked his tight walls, making room for the enormous cock Ben had been staring at earlier, and Ben sobbed as the one finger became two.

“I’m going to cum,” he announced frantically, trying to pull back from Hux’s mouth, but a strong hand on his waist kept him immobile, and all he could do was take the intense pleasure the Alpha gave him. The two fingers stretched apart, opening him up, and then began three, and Ben cried out loudly as he clenched hard around Hux’s fingers and came.

“You’re so beautiful,” murmured Hux as he rubbed Ben’s clit with his thumb, riding him through his orgasm. “What a good Omega,” he murmured, and Ben panted as he finally pushed Hux’s hand away tiredly, oversensitive.

“Now we can’t mate,” pouted Ben as Hux lay beside Ben, pulling his mate into his naked embrace.

“Why can’t we?” Hux asked, resting his head on his hand as he stroking over Ben’s body, enjoying the quiet silence with his husband. Ben was pouting, and Hux couldn’t help leaning down to kiss the pout away, sharing the taste of Ben’s own slick in the process.

“You wouldn’t stop, and I—” Ben cut himself off with a blush, and Hux hummed, a large hand running down the generous slope of Ben’s hip and thigh.

“You orgasmed,” he said quietly, and Ben hid his face in Hux’s neck out of embarrassment. “And you were so beautiful, so delicious. I love watching you fall apart under me,” he said.

“You aren’t mad?” Ben asked quietly, and Hux laughed.

“How could I possibly be mad?” he asked. “You paid me the highest compliment by responding to my touch.”

“But we can’t—”

“You can orgasm multiple times, Ben,” Hux said patiently, and Ben blinked.

“But I’m sensitive,” he murmured, and Hux smirked at him.

“That’s half the fun,” he said with a wink, enjoying this side of Ben. He leaned down to kiss him warmly again, taking his time to lick into his mouth. “I can make you cum so many times,” he breathed when he finally pulled back, his fingers trailing down Ben’s stomach to his wet center again, pausing to trace the swollen clit there. He loved how Ben’s hips jerked at the sensation, but this time, Ben didn’t move away, only spread his thigh open for better access. Hux smile…Ben was curious.

“I want your knot,” whispered Ben, and Hux hummed as he finally pulled his hand back. Ben’s hand reached between them and gripped Hux’s cock hesitantly, long fingers wrapped around his substantial girth to squeeze it gently. Hux released a puff of warm breath on Ben’s neck as he looked down to watch his Omega explore his anatomy, patiently waiting and moaning as he learned to pump it carefully, thumb over his wet slit, stroke soft fingertips along the base where his knot was already beginning to form. When Ben lifted his thumb to taste his precum, Hux rolled Ben onto his back and positioned above him carefully.

“If it’s painful, tell me to stop, and we’ll wait,” Hux said carefully, wetting the tip of his cock with Ben’s slick gently. Ben nodded with an excited inhale, spreading his legs wider as Hux fed his girth inside him slowly. He seemed to push inwards forever, stretching Ben wider and wider, and Ben felt like he couldn’t breathe at some points as Hux opened his legs a little further to make more room for himself.

“How do you feel?” Hux asked after what felt like hours, and Ben’s breath rattled in his head. He felt…dizzy. Light. Like he was in some sort of daze. “Ben?” Hux asked with a worried frown, and Ben realized he hadn’t answered.

“You’re so big,” whispered Ben, reaching up a shaky hand to stroke along the defined muscles of Hux’s chest.

“Is it too much?” asked Hux worriedly, and Ben shook his head, limbs limp.

“Fuck me,” he asked in a tight voice. “Please, Alpha, _fuck_ _me_.”

Hux groaned as he obeyed the command, hooking a leg over his shoulder as he pumped into Ben carefully. Ben felt like he was living in some out-of-body experience. The sight of Hux thrusting into him, the sound of their wet skin slapping together, the overwhelming pleasure of Hux teasing his clit as he fucked him.

“Turn over,” Hux demanded in a voice that sounded gravely, pulling out and hurriedly helping Ben reposition. A hand between Ben’s shoulder blades, and Ben found himself face-down in the covers, his ass sticking up in the air. A thumb brushed against his rim, a silent appreciation to consider later, and then Hux was repositioning and thrusting back inside.

The different angle was intense, and Ben sobbed at the added fullness. It felt like Hux had found some hidden button inside him and every thrust kept turning it on. He knew he was fucked open as wide as he’d go, and as Hux seemed to burn marks into his hips with his fingertips, Ben wondered how any sex after this could possibly compare.

“Hux,” he begged, not even knowing what he was trying to say, and Hux draped over his arched back to kiss at his neck before heaving his entire body up and onto his lap. Back pressed tight against Hux’s chest, Ben hung his head backwards against his husband’s neck as he was fucked.

“You take me so well, such a good Omega,” Hux murmured in his ear, and Ben couldn’t do anything other than groan. The position was too tight, too much for him. “You’ll cum for me, won’t you Ben? Show me how good I make you feel?”

“Alpha,” Ben sobbed, and he almost convulsed as he came around Hux’s expanding knot, sobbing at the sensation as Hux’s fingertips reached down to rub his clit through his orgasm. As he seemed to slip out of consciousness, he registered the sting of Hux’s teeth on his neck and then overwhelming pleasure.

Present

“Yes, Hux,” breathed Ben, throwing his head back against Hux’s chest. He loved everything about these kinds of mornings—the sting of Hux’s teeth on his bite mark, the spicy smell of his contented mate, the way Hux had calmly and politely excused the handmaidens from the room before striding across the room to lift Ben’s nightgown and fuck him over the back of the settee.

“You smell different with the baby,” Hux grunted as he waited for his knot to finish expanding. When they were truly connected, he carefully maneuvered them around the couch to lay together, trying not to jostle the knot too much and cause Ben pain. Ben hummed as he settled onto Hux’s lap easily, leaning back and turning his head to scent at Hux’s neck happily.

“Maybe I should get pregnant more often,” he said teasingly, and Hux hummed.

“You should,” he said, tone serious, and Ben blushed as he kissed his husband, enjoying the strong hands that stroked over his skin.

They’d been through a lot in their five years. The miscarriage three months after they got married was terrible. Leia unexpectedly passing was worse. Ben fumbled as Queen in his early days, dragged down by Leia’s memory and Hux away on business most cycles. There were more miscarriages after that, more sorrows, more tears…

But there were also happy moments, more than Ben could count. There were days when life felt terrible and one glance at Hux’s face made a day of bad things suddenly worth it. And the baby bump Hux’s hands now cradled helped Ben through his low days.

“I love you,” Ben said tiredly, ready to take a short nap as the knot deflated.

“And I you,” murmured Hux.

And nothing is as important as that.

_Finis_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm done.
> 
> Comments/kudos/support--all super appreciated! If you comment, I will respond!
> 
> Think happy thoughts, live a happy life.  
>  _< 3, Honey ___

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 coming in the next few days.
> 
> Any comments, kudos, etc...are all appreciated!! If you comment, I will respond back!
> 
> Think happy thoughts, live a happy life.  
>  _< 3, Honey ___


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